3-D is the latest craze. More and more movies are being made with 3-D technology. And this craze has even extended to the manufacturing of television sets with 3-D capabilities.
3-D technology allows us, with the help of special glasses, to view images projected on a flat screen as three-dimensional images. How is this possible? Binocular vision. God designed the human body with two-eyes located at slightly different locations in our head. This means each eye perceives an object as two separate images from slightly different angles. When our brain combines the two images into one, it creates the 3-D effect. 3-D is that which gives us the ability to perceive depth and to judge distance. In other words, binocular vision allows us to see and experience the world in its fullest dimension. 3-D technology gives us the illusion of depth and distance from an image on a flat screen.
But not everyone has binocular vision capability. Even with two eyes, one or both may not be functioning properly (like not being able to focus on one object simultaneously) and so the brain is not able to adequately process the images. That may be one reason why there are some who cannot perceive the 3-D illusion, or who develop a headache, or experience nausea when they watch 3-D movies.
Perhaps there is an analogy for understanding our perception of reality as a whole. God designed human beings with the ability to perceive reality from two angles or dimensions—the physical and the spiritual. Both are necessary to experience reality in its fullness. We need to recognize properly that the God of the universe is present and at work in this world. Then we will be able to respond more adequately to the challenges of life.
However, there are those who reject the spiritual dimension altogether. And there are those who, for some reason, choose not to “combine” correctly the two angles and end up keeping them separate. Either way, their experience of reality becomes distorted and they miss out on the fullness of life that God intended for all humanity. But this condition need not be hopeless. God can work out corrective measures in our perceptions, but only if we let him.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6.22–23 TNIV)
—Keith Y. Jainga