Page 24 - Dainfern Precinct Living Issue 4 2025

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

WHAT WE SEE

B Y PETER S T OFFBERG

ave you ever chosen food with your eyes? You’re
seriously hungry, but not a hundred percent sure
H what’s going to hit the spot, and then you see a photo.

It’s a fabulously dressed-up and retouched feast that triggers a
physical response. Your mouthwaters, your mood lifts, and your
stomach – well who knows what it does exactly - but there’s no
denying it’s up to something.

Images of melted cheese, cascading waves of chocolate, heaps
of steaming seafood, ribs,steak or even a fantastic salad don’t
just conjureup thoughts, they bring about actual physical changes
in our bodies. What we see initiates a thought and what we think
initiates a response (even what we read has that effect right?).
It’s not just with food either.
I love watching the 438 DVD with my eight-yearold son. 438 was
the record breaking one-day international cricket match between
South Africa and Australia from a few years back and probably
one of our greatest sporting victories.

It’s never long after we hit play that he jumps up and projects
himself into the action, smashing imaginary cricket balls over the
heads of imaginary opponents. Soon we’ve packed up and
made our way to the nets so he can smash actual cricket balls
around a 438-inspired fantasy. As you can imagine, it’s not
just him that gets a little caught up in this. What we do can be
powerful influenced by what we see.
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Nobody would dispute this observation. We know this happens. www.familychurch.online
Strangely though, when it comes to watching violent movies, we DAINFERN COLLEGE AUDITORIUM
often defend violent or explicit images or scenes, arguing that we
shouldn’t necessarily be affected by them. How are they any less
influential?
will see at school, on their friends’ electronic devices or at parties,
We must be more careful with what we allow our children to so we have to teach them how powerful images are and how to
watch. Even as adults, most of us have images that we wish we choose wisely, for themselves, when to watch and when to walk
could remove from our minds. The remote is controlled by us, not away.
by the parental guidanc rating.
Dinner table discussions are great for exploring the power of
We are, however, incapable of protecting them from all that they images. It’s critical that we have an open and loving channel of
trust where our children can discuss images they’ve encountered,
how to deal with them, and how to avoid them.

Jesus tells us that “if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be
full of light.” Isn’t that what we want for our children?

22 DPL issue 4 2025