Mirrors

Daily Gratitude Year Seven-Day 3: Today, I am grateful for mirrors.


This may be another FIRST time ever... with 6 completed years. I think I have neglected mirrors. Perhaps, because they are so often associated with vanity. Still, they provide us with much needed information and even protection.

In the bathroom mirror, men can shave with safety. Women can apply make-up and pluck unwanted things from our faces (keeping it real here girls). We can check our hair or our beards. It can be a good face morning or a bad hair day. 

On our vehicles, mirrors provide the protection of seeing what is behind us and to the sides. That is not a convenience... it is life saving. We come to rely on the information mirrors provide. Some mirrors have additional little warnings because "items in mirror are closer than they appear".  

The interesting thing about a mirror is that it is useless in the dark. Without a light source, there is no information given. With a mirror... any lightsource is doubled by the reflection in the mirror. (It is why designers love to hang mirrors opposite of windows in dark places.) 

"We are mirrors whose brightness is wholly derived from the sun that shines upon us." -CS Lewis

The sun brings the mirror's reflection to life. The Son is the light source that brings our human reflections to life, when we live in him. On our own, there is no light. 

I spent December in Revelation. God is the light. Jesus is the lamp. There are many things that we don't clearly understand in Revelation. In the same way, the people of Israel missed Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies. It is important to keep seeking and looking fo the light. Our imperfect vision will one day be clear. Paul gives encouragement on this matter:

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. -1 Corinthians 13:12  

I love these passages from Revelation. They are shed light on the nature of God. 

And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. -Revelation 21:23

And there will be no night there--no need for lamps or sun--for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever. -Revelation 22:5 

We need mirrors to help us know if we are reflecting His glory. Or, are we more concerned with our own vanity? Do our lives point to Him, or to our own glory? Something to think about the next time we look into a mirror and make an assessment or a judgement call. 

Today, I am grateful for mirrors.