A
Dim Reflection
The
good Apostle Paul said, “We see now as in a mirror dimly.” Two millennia
later, nothing’s really changed. A good bit of what we see, I’m afraid we
see backwards, like we see images in a mirror, and a foggy one at that. Paul’s
perception that it will only be later that we actually see things clearly and
understand our world may be one of the most perceptive and inspired statements
in history. And perhaps never has there been a time when the world seemed more
like a fun house than right now. It appears that more and more people are seeing
things backward, and that is the cause of many of our most nagging problems. Now
I don’t pretend to be the only one living who sees things straight. My mirror
is just as large, flawed and foggy as the rest
of
the world’s, but I have learned not to depend on my own judgment, or trust my
own vision in most things. I’ve taken to depending on a higher vision and
trying to see the world through the eyes of the only one I know who has a clear
and un-obscured view, God.
I,
for instance, might look at abortion as a matter of a couple’s right to
choose. God never mentions it,
But
he does see a child’s life being taken, and says that’s wrong. I might look
at my shotgun as being a weapon of the devil, and find its manufacturer guilty
of murder just for fabricating it. God doesn’t mention gun manufacturers, but
sees into the heart of the one who pulls the trigger in anger. It’s the heart
that’s wrong from his viewpoint. I might look at riches as something to be
sought after, life on earth as a time to be bent on acquisition and hoarding.
God sees eternity; he never narrows his focus to a few decades. He knows that
our time here is short, and that the clearer picture is the eternal one. He sees
out and ahead to a time when he will provide faithful people with all the
treasure they could ever desire. I’ve lived life both ways, with and without
the mirror, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s far better to depend
on God’s vision than to depend on my own foggy, backward reflection of things.
Perhaps you don’t believe that there is another better way of looking at
things, perhaps you don’t even believe there is a God. Well then, just do this
for me, get the most flattering picture of yourself that you can find and take
it with you while you go stand at that full length mirror you’ve got hanging
on the bathroom door. Now look at the picture, now the mirror. Now look at the
picture again. Now tell me, which one are really you. Even those two simple
images of you are markedly different. You’re hair isn’t even parted on the
same side. And the simple truth is, both of those images are flawed in the eyes
of the one who made us. He sees the heart in every person and in every matter,
and someday we will too. On that day everything will be made clear. Until then,
I’ll trust him and stay away from mirrors.