The Truth About Chameleons

A couple months ago I had the opportunity to help teach a course on basic translation principles in Uganda. I enjoyed interacting with the participants and learned much from them. One particularly memorable moment was when we were discussing what a concept is. We had examples of different concepts and were sharing what we thought about those concepts. One example was a picture of a chameleon. Without fail, everyone in my group said that a chameleon is very dangerous. Some said it's poisonous, others said it will bite you and you will die right away. One person explained how if you are driving on the road and it is crossing in front of you you have to kill it or something bad will happen to you.

It was fascinating to listen to all the discussion, ideas I had never heard about chameleons before. My ideas about chameleons are that they are a reptile that can change colours to blend with their environment but are essentially harmless and people keep them as pets. I shared my thoughts with the group but they didn't seem to care that I knew people who had kept them as pets, they were absolutely convinced that chameleons are deadly to anyone who gets too close.

What is the truth about chameleons? From my western perspective I was pretty sure I was right. Maybe I am, but I realized that I have blind spots as well in regards to other things besides chameleons . After living in Tanzania I have come to see that one of those blind spots is the spiritual realm. It's pretty easy to ignore all things spiritual and focus on the things in this world that I can see, feel, touch and hear. I can find all my explanations for life scientifically, by observing the world around me. But does that mean the spiritual world doesn't exist? Am I ignoring the obvious? From an East African perspective I definitely am. They know the spiritual world exists, is powerful and affects their everyday life. I may acknowledge the existence of spirits but I don't live in a way that shows it. I credit everything to the physical realm, leaving little space for anything spiritual.

To be clear, as a Christian I know about the spirit world and I believe it exists. I know God works in ways I cannot see and so does the enemy. At the same time my daily decisions are based on the physical realm more often than the spiritual one. I'm concerned about eating right so I will stay healthy and ignore how my spiritual health affects my body. I get upset with people, forgetting that my enemy is not people but the devil. I get frustrated when circumstance are out of my control, unaware that there is battle going on and unseen forces are watching my reaction.

So although my Ugandan friends do not see very clearly when it comes to chameleons, I do not see so clearly when it comes to the spiritual realm. Perhaps in time they will learn from me that chameleons are not as dangerous as they believe and I will learn from them to be aware of the spiritual realm around me.