Do you suffer from change blindness? 

You walk into a building and there is a counter with a big sign overhead reading: EXPERIMENT HERE.  A man behind the counter asks you if you would like to participate in an experiment, it will only take about fifteen minutes, and if you do would you mind signing a few forms.  As you sign the forms he drops below the counter to get a second form.  He now asks you to sign this form as well, which you do easily.   

You then walk into another room where an interviewer sits you down and talks to you about the last couple of moments.  Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?  What exactly did you notice?  If you are like 75% of the population, you did not notice anything extraordinary or bizarre. 

In fact, something rather remarkable happened.  (If you don’t believe this, go look it up on a website called wimp.com.)   After the man behind the counter asked you to fill out the form he dropped below the counter.  He moved out of the way while a second man, who looks different, has different hair and is wearing a different colored shirt pops up from behind the counter and hand you the second form.  The experiment assistant is a totally different person from the one with whom you have just talked.  And you didn’t notice a thing.

Psychologists have a name for this phenomenon, it is called Change Blindness.  What happens is that our brains process very little of what comes in through our eyes.  We often miss large changes in our world from one view to the next.  We are unable to see things that would seem to be perfectly obvious.  75% of the people in the experiment did not notice a thing.  The subjects know that they are involved in an experiment; it should have made them more aware.  Why they don’t might have something to do with what they are focusing on, what they are paying attention to. 

Rejoice in the Lord always, I shall say it again, rejoice. 

To someone who is in despair, to someone who is depressed, to someone whose life is in upheaval and confusion, these words of St. Paul may sound a bit hollow and worthless.  It is the religious equivalent of wearing a smiley face button.  And certainly, if someone is deep in clinical depression or even bi-polar, telling them to cheer up is worse than worthless, it is annoying and exasperating.  Some folks may need a bit more.   

But for most of us, at least 75% I would say, I believe that there is another phenomenon taking place.  I think for most of us, it is a question of change blindness.  We are so taken up by the cares and concerns, the worries and apprehensions of our lives that we are blind to the wonders that God is working in our lives.  Like the subjects who miss the totally different man who pops up from behind the counter, we often miss the movement of the Spirit, the grace of God which is popping up in our lives.  Busyness, malaise, dissatisfaction, the everyday problems of our lives, keep us from focusing on what is happening, what is changing, what God is doing in each and every heartbeat, in each and every breath, in each and every moment. 

That is why Advent is so necessary to open our eyes, to make us more aware.  There is no doubt that these are tough times, but I would beg you to open your eyes to 2 things that might prevent change blindness.

First, I believe hard times make us more resilient, more durable.  When we go through the crucible of difficulty and struggle, we almost always come out on the other end, stronger, more flexible, in a word, better.  Many of our parents and grandparents lived through the turmoil of the Depression and World War II.  Though not choosing those days, most of the people who lived then look back with fondness knowing that those hard times made them into the people that they became.  The times of my life when I grew the most were the most difficult, the most painful, the most challenging.  Trust that God is doing something new in each moment and open your eyes to it. 

Second, I am firmly convinced that attitude is everything.  If you go into an experience expecting bad things, you will notice bad things and will be blind to the good.  But if you go into something with rejoicing on your heart, some amazing things happen.  The other amazing moments in my life happened when I faced difficulty and was just open to whatever was going to come.  I was shocked at how things happened, I opened myself up to the changes. 

This Advent, we are called to open our eyes to see that God is doing something different, something wonderful, something amazing in our lives.  Make sure you are part of the 25% that will see it…