Swelled heads and wavy faces

Years ago, when Daddy and Mama got a new TV, we oohed and aahed over its big screen and state-of-the-art features.

Several months ago, I visited my parents. Walking into the den, I saw their former technological wonder tuned to a show that featured an older lady singing. The lady offered peppy lyrics, a robust voice and endearing facial expressions. Alas, I could not focus on any of those things.

My, what big hair she has! I thought. Why would anyone wear their hair that big? It’s the biggest hair I ever saw.

Beyond BIG, her hair filled the screen.

Only later, when Daddy changed channels, did I realize my error. The issue lay, not with the woman’s choice of hairstyle, but with the TV screen. On every channel, people had huge cone-heads, short bodies and miniscule legs.

This opened up a whole new dimension in TV viewing. It made watching baseball games particularly fascinating. You may have heard that wealth and fame give people the bighead? We saw evidence. Swelled-head pitchers bravely pitched with shrunken arms. Cone-head batters zealously struck with stubby bats. But the real show lay in watching the hitters run, distended heads bouncing, teensy legs churning.

Same with football players. Big-headed, short-armed, practically legless, they vied for passes and handoffs while scurrying – uphill? Yes, on this TV, each football field appeared decidedly bowl-shaped, the lines converging, rather than parallel.

Whether we watched the news, a game show, sports event, movie or series, the distorted picture proved funny for roughly three minutes. Then, it became annoying. Always, it distracted.

Now, my parents have a newer TV in their den. The replacement isn’t as large or state-of-the-art as its predecessor. Yet happily, it presents people, objects and even words on the screen in correct proportion.

My husband and I visited my parents a couple of weeks ago. While Daddy and Jerry watched a ballgame on the replacement TV in the den, I relaxed with Mama in the master bedroom. Flipping on the bedroom TV, we located a Lawrence Welk rerun from the 1950’s. The performers offered us nostalgic songs, lyrical voices and lively instrumentals.

Alas, I could not focus on any of those things because of the ripples rippling across the screen. Old show, defective tape, I thought.

Only later, when we changed channels, did I realize my error. Wherever we turned, people stood still and danced the hula at the same time. Close-up shots showed people’s faces waving like flags.

Most of us care too much about high-def pictures to put up long with ailing TVs. But though we’ll fork out big bucks for clear images, how many of us live week after week, month after month, year after year with a distorted view of reality?

We repeatedly ignore evidence as obvious as cone-headed ballplayers, attesting we do not see people or circumstances, difficulties or blessings, material things or spiritual things, life or death, as they really are. More than annoying, more than distracting, it’s grievous what we miss.

Once, while healing a blind man, Jesus asked him, “Can you see anything now?”

According to Mark 8, the man answered quite honestly: “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”

After “Jesus placed his hands over the man’s eyes again . . . he could see everything clearly.”

Don’t live with a distorted picture of life. Do what a formerly blind man did. Regardless how foolish it feels, stand before the one who can miraculously restore what you’ve learned to live without, and say, “I can’t see clearly.”

© 2008, Deborah P. Brunt. All rights reserved.