Look out your window. Any window nearby will do. What do you see? Maybe it’s a beautiful sunset setting over a picturesque landscape, or maybe a bustling city nestled far below you. Possibly you are looking out over a campus, or potentially just staring at another window or wall. Whatever your view may be I am sure we all are seeing something a little different, or if we are looking out at the same view, I am sure we are seeing that view a little differently. I love to look out of windows and watch the world pass by. There is something unique by the way a window frames the activities of the outside world. The stillness of the inside is divided from the outside by a thin piece of glass, yet this piece of thin glass and those pieces of wood framing can teach someone so much.

I remember standing in the lounge of the Mandarin Oriental in New York City looking out one of their large windows that framed both Central Park and the skyline so beautifully. I was left in awe in the quiet lounge as I stared out upon the bustling city that met the tranquil park in the center. The vibrant green of the park poured out into the gray tones of the city. It was a beautiful sight. When I looked out the window, I saw a place I one day wanted to live. I saw a place that was busy and hectic yet beautiful and still all at the same time. I would assume people familiar with that view might not necessarily have stood in front of the window with the same respect for it as me, but we all see the world differently. Just like how we all have a different view looking out of the windows nearby.

For one, the environment we live in changes what we see around us. Whether you live in a city, the country, suburbs, desert, or on an island, you will see the world from the perspective found where you live. Someone in New York wouldn’t see the view I saw and be completely struck with awe, yet they might see it from a whole new perspective that I don’t have because I don’t live there. More importantly, we all see the world differently because of our belief systems. If I look out of a window and see nature, I can’t help but be overjoyed by the thought of a magnificent Creator that crafted the world I am seeing outside. A window frames our perspective of the outside in the same way our environment and beliefs frame how we perceive what is around us. We all have our own unique worldviews. We all see the world through a different type of glass, and from the way we look out of our own windows to see the world, we step outside and live our lives based on the pieces of wood and glass that frame our perspective. In other words, the beliefs we hold onto carry great weight in how we view the outside from our very own windows.