How We Interpret Life

The Artisan Soul by Erwin McManus

Ch 3:  Interpretation:  Translation of Life

How we choose to interpret the events in our lives determines how we see the world.

Imagine wearing a pair of glasses.  As you look through the lens, think of a time when an experience, person or belief affected your view and interpretation of the world in a positive manner.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “God’s plans are to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

How would this change the way you interpret life if you embraced this truth about God?

p 72—“...truth is not nearly as powerful as interpretation...”

p 73—“...interpretation is more important than truth in that all truth, all human experience, every narrative and every story, in the end changes us only after we have engaged it and interpreted it through our own story.  Truth finds its way into the inner recesses of our soul only through interpretation...In the end, we decide which story becomes our story.”

How can 2 people have the exact same experience but interpret it in totally different ways?

“We are interpreters...We are translators of meaning, and thus everything we see, hear, smell, touch, taste, and experience is processed through all our previous experiences and perceptions...We see people through the filter of everyone we’ve ever know...we see circumstances through the filter of everything we’ve ever experienced...Every experience is interpreted by the overarching story of our lives, and those experiences give us greater clarity.”

“Art is an interpretation of life...it is the artist’s personal interpretation of their experience of life...an expression of our emotions...Through our lives, we paint a picture of what we believe and what we have experienced.”

As mommas, we parent in our own individual, unique way---because of our own story, belief and experience—and, the unique story of each of our children.  What 1 or 2 things are most important to you in being a momma?

The book describes two kinds of “uninteresting” people: the “watchers” who have never suffered, and the “wallowers” whose pain is their universe. 

p 77—“The first is the person who has never suffered...the other kind of uninteresting person..is the person who has suffered, and that suffering is all they know.”

Do you feel like you lean towards either side of this spectrum?  Why is it so important to suffer well?

Suffering well is going through the suffering with hope that life will get better, “this too shall pass”.  Jesus said He will never leave us or forsake us—from the day we’re created. 

When we remember sufferings from our past that continue to be painful memories, we can invite Jesus into that memory, and ask Him to show us where He was in that situation.  Since He is always with us, we can know that He was present and helping us in that exact situation.  Knowing this can set us free to move forward and leave that memory behind.  (Forgiving the one who wronged us will also set us free).

After our suffering, we can then encourage someone else who is going through the same experience we had.  This brings meaning and purpose into our suffering.

p 78—“Beyond despair there must always be hope; beyond betrayal there must be a story of forgiveness; beyond failure there must be a story of resilience...Only the Resurrection makes the Crucifixion what it is for all of us who are marked by the cross.”

p 81-82—“In finding our voice, we must pay careful attention to the interpretation of the story we are in.  As storytellers, we find meaning in all of life’s experiences and also bring meaning to the lives of others” (our children) “Our great fear is that we will never live a life worth sharing with others, never live a story worth telling, but that we will find ourselves trapped in a story for which there is no ending, only an endless cycle of disappointment and defeat.  The LIE that paralyzes us is that those failures and disappointments disqualify us from living out the great story of our lives.  The reality is that our struggles and suffering give us the context to tell the greatest story of our lives.”

How could your struggles or challenging chapters of your life help others?

Recognize the lies you are believing.  Name them, and reject them.  Then declare the truth.  Walk in the truth.

p 82—“...we are all essentially two selves—our experienced self and our remembered self...we choose between memories of experiences.”

p 83—“...our experiences are not the dominant force affecting our personal happiness.  It is instead our remembered self that controls how we perceive and experience life.”

“How we remember those experiences and even what experiences we choose to remember...have the most profound effect on our happiness.”

Do you know that you can “rewrite” your story?

p 84—“...I made a conscious decision to relinquish those” (negative) “memories as the material with which I defined my life.  I could not change my experiences—what happened, happened—but I could change my focus and my interpretation.  I began consciously REWRITING my personal history, determined to learn from my most negative experiences and use them as the material to develop my best self.  I also was determined to remember the best experiences ever given to me as a gift in my childhood.  I cannot understate the POWER of this process.  It not only changed how I remembered my childhood, but it changed me.”

”Be informed by your experiences but do not be controlled by them.”

We can alter our filter...the lens through which we see our experiences—past, present and future.

p 89—“When our interpretation of life is informed by the best of human emotions...love...hope...faith, it changes the way we see everything.”

There might be a glaring negative emotion and experience in your life.  Take time to look for the good in it.  Just as our heavenly Father only has prosperity, good, hope and a future for us (Jer 29:11), as mommas, we can look through the same filter, and see the good and beauty and wonder. 

It’s a happier day when we look for the good, rather than focus on the negative.

In fact, say it out loud.  “I love the way you _____.”  “I’m so glad you _______.  That was kind.”  Our children will receive this much better than negative words.  And, we will begin to see more and more of the good, rather than dread the negative.

Let’s choose to interpret the events in our lives and see the world in a positive manner!