There was a remarkable video about orcas hunting seals. Well, one seal, alone on an ice floe minding her own business. A pod of orcas began circling her with a plan that involved cooperation, a sequence of events, and food.
They achieved their purpose.
What astonishes me, is the many perspectives I was afforded. How
in the world were multiple cameras in place at this precise moment? There was a view of the seal sunbathing from overhead, another close up of the matriarch orca's head sliding above water to access the situation, and one of the pod lined up to push the raft into open water. There was an underwater camera, somehow capturing several whales, and a long range view that included the whole hunting party. It seemed like at least eight perspectives, of one event, with no evidence to me of where the
cameras were.
Any single view would have been limited. The events were complex enough that no photographer saw it all. Certainly the seal was confused, and she was there.
It seems likely that when the team began to edit their footage, there were reams that were discarded. To capture the five-minute video that I watched, there were many hours of shots that were out of focus, or pointed the wrong
direction.
There are happenings in my life that work this way. The moving parts of an event are interconnected, and yet there is no way for me or perhaps anyone to see all perspectives at once.
Maybe it is naive of me to expect to. One word ascribed to God is omniscient. His capacity to comprehend and guide an array of interactions is not simply a collection of well-placed cameras. His foresight incorporates time, as well. What
happened before the conflict? What will it feed into?
When I look back on some of the memories that felt like tragedies, there is a wider angle. I can let go of some of the feelings that were out of focus, or pointed the wrong way. When the final editing is finished, I think I will be astonished.