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It was gray and partially overcast the day our ship sailed in Hubbard Bay in Alaska. Rain threatened and occasionally fulfilled its warning. But these conditions sometimes are better for photography at mid-day than bright, direct sun that burns out highlights or covers details with dark shadows.
I adjusted my camera's settings as best I could to compensate for lower light and rolling movements of the ship . . . and I made sure I had a polarizing filter on my lens. The filter helped bring out the blue in the sky and sea and reduced unwanted reflections from the water. It helped the camera see more that my human eye could see. Because of the filter, the camera saw the deep colors of the sky and sea. It saw beyond the distracting glare and discovered details my eye overlooked.
A debate could me made as to which is the true view. If my eye could not see the depth of the blue and greens but the camera with filter could, which one was real. I'll let the philosophers debate that one -- but for me, I think both are real, both reveal a part of the whole.
It seems that the unfiltered view is like mankind and life as we see it, raw and flawed -- not reflecting the full beauty we are intended to show. We are overcast by the imperfections and shortcoming of famine, wars, disputes, pride, anger, storms, earthquakes . . . sin. Yet, God graciously looks at us through a filter that turns the clouded to clear, the muted to magnificent, the hazy to honed. When God sees us through the filter of His Son, we are seen as we out to be -- clean, pure, and beautiful.
Yes, both views -- filtered and unfiltered are true -- but I admit, I prefer the filtered look. Perhaps that is why my favorite pair of sunglasses are the ones with polarized lenses.
"Beloved, are we now the sons of God , and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when Christ shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (I John 3:2)
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