Seeing Through a Dim Mirror

Picture found here

Often times, when peering in the mirror, it is for superficial purposes.   We primp our hair, smooth down our waves, or touch up our look.  We may use it to check how something could look on us, or even use it to take pictures of ourselves to post for the world to see.  But do we ever stop to see ourselves? Not to nickpick at wrinkles that now mar the forehead, but the person we are, reflecting back to us?  Most of us have not – probably cannot.  Of course, some may feel that staring in the mirror holds too many vanities, for after all, it is a sin to notice the self, right? Maybe we just sift ourselves away to so many others, down through each of the screen spaces that we do not have time to see who we are. But if we look, truly and really take the time to see ourselves, we may just see what is in us.

Loving the way God created us is one of the best ways to serve and worship.  A preacher once said that worship does not start in the sanctuary, but at home before we leave the house. Once we see what God sees, our gifts grow.  Our gift grows once we understand that we have had the gifts all along. Ownership becomes something we embrace when we understand that our praise starts before we reach the fellowship. Our song is more than what is prompted when in community with others – we bring our instruments and skills to play them when we walk into the door.

We can only know our talents when we are willing to sit down and give over to self-reflection. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known”.  What we are capable of may actually be hard to see at first – our untrained perceptive eyes may indeed initially be cloudy – but there is far more than our physical attributes and that more is worth checking into.

Let’s consider, this week, taking just 1 minute a day for the rest of the week to just see ourselves.  Set a timer, think of nothing else, and see what is revealed in your quiet time.