What Black and Blue vs. White and Gold Tell Us About Our Humanity

WhiteGoldBlueBlackDress

If you’ve been anywhere on the internet or social media the past few days, you have seen this dress.  It has become the focal point of controversy nationwide.  Facebook battles have begun, Twitter feeds are causing madness, vine has exploded with humor and people have even taken to Amazon itself to fuel their side.

I was sitting up last night enjoying some relaxing time when I noticed the dress.  It was obviously a white and gold dress.  I wasn’t sure at first why someone was even posting it.  Who couldn’t tell what color it was?  It wasn’t until after I saw 4 or 5 people posting in my newsfeed that I even took notice.  As I began to read some of the comments, I noticed that some people thought the dress was blue and black.  I couldn’t believe it.  So, I showed the picture to my husband and asked him what color it was.

He looked at me like I was crazy and slowly said, “Ummmm… it’s blue and black.”  When I told him that I thought it was white and gold, he thought that I was playing a joke on him.  He didn’t actually believe me until he pulled up his feed and saw all of you other white and golders like me!  Lol  What about you?  What color do you see the dress above?  Is it white and gold or blue and black for you?  Are you #TeamWhiteandGold or #TeamBlueandBlack ?

My husband is a graphics guy, so his first instinct was to check the color of the dress via Photoshop.  When we pulled it up, I was amazed.  As he clicked the eyedropper tool, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  The parts of the dress that I saw as white were coming up different shades of blue.  The parts of the dress that I saw as gold were coming up a very dark color, close to black.

I’m not a science person by nature.  In fact, I avoid science as much as humanly possible.  However, as I understand it… some people’s eyes will have different preferences as to the coloring of the dress.  I didn’t think much else of the dress until the middle of the night last night.  I woke up and just couldn’t get it out of my head.  How could my eyes be so wrong?

I started thinking about how we often let our own opinions and our own views and our own personal preferences cloud the truth.  There’s so much debate about what is right and what is wrong in the world.  Homosexuality?  Is it simply love between two people or is it an abomination?  Abortion?  It is a convenient woman’s preference or the murder of an innocent baby?  Adultery?  Is it the connection of two soul mates who didn’t meet until after they were already married to someone else or is it a sin in the eyes of God?  Democrat or Republican?  Is one good and one bad?  Death penalty?  Is it justice or murder?  Gun control?  Do guns kill or do people kill?  Fifty Shades of Grey?  Is it a harmless love show or degrading pornography for women?

It wasn’t until I looked beyond what my eyes were telling me and compared the colors of the dress to the true colors in Photoshop that I believed that the dress was actually blue and black.  And it won’t be until we compare our beliefs and our views and surrender our selfishness to the ways of God, comparing all moral things to the Holy Bible that we will know what is right and what is wrong.  Our preconceived notions, our personal feelings, our love for our family and our kids, our love for our friends… as long as we allow all of those things change our understanding of what the Bible says, we will never be fully connected to God.

I don’t have all of the answers and I probably never will.  But, I do know that I want to live my life as connected to God as possible.  I will strive to make my opinions to be God’s opinions and my thoughts to be His thoughts.  As it says in Isaiah 55: 6-9 (NIV)  “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.  Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.  Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.  ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord.  ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.'”

35 Responses to What Black and Blue vs. White and Gold Tell Us About Our Humanity

  • Stacie says:

    Isn’t it amazing how our brains can see something that totally isn’t there? That goes for almost every aspect of life.

  • Pam says:

    I see it as blue and black, but it seems like a lot of drama over a dress. It does make you think though, if you’re seeing everything right or wrong.

  • Doug says:

    When Jessica first showed me this picture, I totally thought that she was playing a joke on me. I was looking at this blue and black dress thinking that she had gone colorblind. In the middle of the night I woke up and looked at my phone because it was making noises and I saw a picture of the dress and it was gold and white. I would get it for a few more moments and then it slowly faded to blue and black. It was interesting how my perspective changed. Jessica, I think that’s right on we need to allow God’s word to shape or perspective, rather than allowing our perspective to shape God’s word.

  • Theresa says:

    My daughter showed it to me and I first saw blue and brown. Now all I see is gold and white. I haven’t seen black in in yet, and I have looked at that stupid dress 1000 times already!

  • Chrysa says:

    I was out for the evening last night and was amazed to come home to that dress all over my Facebook feed! I googled for some articles and it was interesting to see the science behind why people see the colors differently.

  • Debbie L. says:

    I think the dress is saying something to everyone. I agree with you that it makes us all think about what is and what is not. Just because we see something it does not mean we know all the facts, have the right to judge or disagree with someone that sees it differently. I see a Gold and White dress.

  • This dress has caused such an uproar! lol…The first time I saw it I saw #TeamBlueandBlack and I asked my daughter sitting beside me and she said White and Gold?! I was completely confused? We laughed about it, but it was odd. You are right about perception…we rely on past experiences and what we “know” to determine what we think is right. Maybe we should be a bit more open to others ideas?

  • Chrystal says:

    When I first saw the dress on the original posters tumblr it was white and gold. When I saw it a few hours later it was darker. So, I started to figure out quickly that it was how our brain sees things and also, how it appears on the computer screen or viewing screen. After 24 hours of the dress debate, I think we can all just agree to disagree.

  • Sara P. says:

    The first time I saw the dress, it was CLEARLY white & gold. But now I’ve seen more images and I think it’s black & blue. Honestly, though, I don’t care what color the dress is.

  • Lori Gunn says:

    I see gold and white. It’s amazing how the same item appears differently to so many people. Fortunately, I see red, emphasized letters fine so I can leave a comment, but I wonder if color-blind people can see them?

  • Bismah says:

    To be quite honest I do not have the time nor energy to give this dress any of the attention it has gotten. This is just my opinion and feelings and I am not by any means judging those who may have enjoyed this.

  • aimee fauci says:

    This does bring on a lot of conversation like the topics you pointed out. At least with the dress we can all get a good laugh.

  • Brandy says:

    I love this post, so much. I agree that so much is debated and argued in life and it is sad. I think that we are all best suited to live for each of our own families with compassion and kindness to others. I saw the dress as White and Gold, have yet to see it any other color. My daughter thinks I am crazy, she and her brother sees black and blue. The dress to me, made me feel intrigued, for so many were seeing it differently.

  • Stacey says:

    I was just like you, I just saw the picture at first and didn’t think much of it. Little did I know, that the whole nation would soon be fighting over it lol.

  • Laurie Lieggi says:

    I saw this beautiful dress and loved the pastel blue and gold. No black and no white!

    Thanks for your post — our hearts are deceitfully wicked and the only truth is in the Word of God. I appreciated your thoughts as a reminder to be compassionate and move forward with an attitude that is willing to listen and engage with the culture all while being grounded in the truth.

  • Ashley says:

    It was definitely interesting to watch how people responded to #thedress debate. I’m not sure how it applies to the larger context of life but you have some interesting points.

  • Alesha says:

    First off, the dress is white and gold when I look at it, but it’s 50/50 in our household of 6. Kinda neat to me how it’s different for some people. I love the twist you took with this post, and you’re absolutely right. It all comes down to the Word of God, not the word of man. Honestly though, we all have to live our lives to the best of our abilities and know we’ll answer for it someday. While I have my opinion on these issues, all I can do is live how I feel God has called me to and pray others are doing the same.

  • Kiwi says:

    Oh no not the dress! I will say I see the dress clear as black and blue…but I swear twice I saw it white and gold that is freaky!

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