Saturday, October 05, 2013

Mirror Mirror on the wall

I hate mirrors. When I pass one I do everything in my power not to look at myself or even to catch my reflection. I reluctantly look at my reflection once a day upon leaving my  house to check and  make sure that I don't scare anyone. On the rare occasions that I do catch my reflection or have to spend time in front of the mirror I cringe.

Even though I don't like mirrors I do recognize their importance. If we don't check our reflection from time to time we could leave the house in a terrible state with broccoli in our teeth or our clothing askew. The mirror helps us to check on our outward appearance and to make sure we look okay.

For our physical inside appearance we have mirrors of sorts in ultrasounds and X-ray machines.  This  equipment allows us to get an inward reflection and helps us to make sure we look okay on the inside.

Mirrors, or various reflection equipment offer practical ways to look at ourselves and make sure we are okay. Where it gets tricky is when we need to check our spiritual insides. Spiritual stuff is a little harder to  look at . You can't necessarily see it in the mirror - it's not like we have a gigantic halo swirling above our heads that measures our goodness or a spiritual body within that can be detected and examined by X-ray machines. How do we then measure if we are spiritually okay?

We have to be a little more creative with our reflection - it's not as concrete as a mirror. A spiritual check up requires reflection of a different sort. It requires us to use a figurative mirror to reflect back on our day, our actions, our language, our choices, our friendships and our feelings. Sometimes  I cringe when I have to check on it. Like with my aversion to mirrors I sometimes turn my head when faced with that figurative mirror.

What I do realize is that in order to truly transform I MUST face those reflections no matter how uncomfortable I am or how disappointed with my short comings I might be. Cringing and turning away will not move me to transformation. Instead I will just sit in denial or ignorance preferring to remain as I am. I close myself  off to the wonderful experience of actually watching the transformation. I cheat myself of the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of transformation because I never checked where I was before so I can celebrate how much I've changed.

God can do miracles in our lives and can change our spiritual insides with or without our help. His view of us in the mirror is very different than ours.  When we take the time to examine ourselves we can then partner with God and be aligned with the transformation He has in store for us - it is then that we do not turn away but notice full on how awesome our God is.

Are YOU looking at ME?
K Weaver
 
 
I’m sitting here all by myself
As happy as can be
I notice that there seems to be
Someone looking at me…
 
Hey! Are you looking at me?
I quickly ask, just to be clear
And they continue staring straight
As if they CAN NOT HEAR!
 
HEY YOU! HEY YOU! I begin to shout
Are YOU looking at ME?
Still no answer is given
I’m getting REALLY angry!!!
 
HEY! ARE-YOU-LOOKING-AT-ME???!!!
My blood is boiling hot!!
Still silence is returned to me
I’M FREAKING OUT! A LOT!
 
HEY! YOU! YA YOU! HEY!
Can’t you stop or look in another direction?
 
HEY YOU! HEY YOU! Hey…wait a minute…
It’s only my reflection!

No comments: