Many of us learned to read by way of the “Dick and Jane” readers, starring Mother, Father, Dick, Jane and Sally. Spot the dog and Puff the cat also featured into the plots.
Each page was three-fourths picture and one-fourth text. “See Spot. See Spot run. Run, run run.” I grew to love this family that was similar to ours, a boy and two girls, a dog that looked like Spot, and a cat named (yes) Puff. Virtually all American children in public grade schools learned to read with Dick and Jane, from the 1930’s to the 1970’s.
When I remember these books, the words “look” and “see” come to mind. The author hoped children would look at the world around them and observe all there was to see, learning life lessons while learning to read. But there were problems.
For one thing, all the characters were white, and their looking and seeing was all from that one perspective. Ethnic children didn’t relate to Dick, Jane and Sally. Their viewpoint was different and needed to factor into the stories. In the 1960’s, the books were finally expanded to include families of other races, which brought a richer depth to plot lines for all children.
Sometimes I wonder how differently I would see life had I been raised in a different country or been born to another race or faith. But this is an imponderable. We are who we are and have a limited perspective based on what we’ve looked at and seen.
Wise people expand their vision outside their experience with a desire to see beyond their own worlds. This can be really difficult, but there is a looking and seeing that’s easy to practice.
This picture of Nate and me was snapped before digitals (1985) by an eager little boy who had begged to take charge of the camera. We posed, and he centered the shot perfectly. Had he turned the camera or taken one step back, the result would have been different.
I decided to keep it, though. Even without any heads, the picture tells a story. The arms and hands say something, as well as the clothes, the plaque on the rock, the summer day, the long shadows. Had faces been visible, the other parts of the story might not have been noticed. It’s simply a picture from a fresh perspective.
God’s desire is that we look and see from his fresh perspective. This includes the way we look at circumstances and people, and especially the way we see him. In order to change our perspective, we have to look at how Jesus viewed circumstances, people and his Father, then copy him. None of that comes easily and takes years of practice, but as we try, we’ll see with new eyes.
The demise of Dick and Jane came in the 1970’s as phonics became the standard for teaching reading. But when we hear someone say, “See Spot run!” we know exactly what they mean.
“Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.” (Colossians 3:2 The Message)
