To see or not to see

"For now we see in a mirror, dimly"

1 Corinthians 13:12

I went on a retreat a few years ago, with women from my church, at a lovely old facility in the mountains.  It had been refurbished and restored to its former glory, and remodeled in the spirit of the time in which it was built.  Which meant that the rooms were lacking a few modern “necessities”.  Like enough outlets for all of us gals to plug in our hairdryers, hair curlers and hair straighteners.  Why is it that women want their hair to do the opposite of what their hair wants to do?  One of the great mysteries of life….

The other thing the room was lacking, was a mirror.  There was one in the bathroom, but that was it.  So if anyone was showering, or, um, seeing a man about a horse {now there’s a weird expression… for those of you not in the U.S., that’s a euphemism for using the restroom.  Or washroom, as they say in Canada.  Or loo, as they say in England…} then no one else could use the mirror.  It was sort of frustrating.  It’s such a basic thing, to have access to a mirror.  Being without it made me appreciate that. 

The second day, though, I had an idea.  I had brought my laptop computer along so I could do some writing, and my computer is equipped with a camera, for skyping, or similar.   So I turned the camera on, and then, just by facing my computer screen, I could see myself.   It wasn’t a terrifically clear image, to be sure, but it was better than nothing.  At least I could comb my hair, and make sure it wasn’t doing that woo-hoo thing on the side.  {I’m sure you know what I mean.  I hope you know what I mean…}

Naturally, I found myself thinking about today’s verse… about the frustration of not being able to see oneself, or only being able to see to a certain extent.  And all I wanted to do was check my make-up, or make sure I didn’t have spinach in my teeth.   Now think about the frustration of limited vision, when it comes to our spiritual reflections.   Because there, we are really hampered.   We know nothing spiritual, except what He has revealed to us.  Which means there’s a lot we don’t know about ourselves. 

The trick is to want to see oneself, spiritually.   That’s the first step.  The next steps are prayer and His Word.  Mostly His Word.  Prayer is the start, though.  A desire to have our weaknesses shown to us ~ or even our strengths, if we're not accurately seeing them ~ is like giving Him the go-ahead.  Then we can sit down and read His Word, and find Him guiding us in ways He wants us to be more like Him.


Our vision here on earth is a dim mirror.  Full understanding will only come when there is full revelation.  And we have that to look forward to, when He comes again. 

~ "we know that when He is revealed, 

we shall be like Him, 

for we shall see Him as He is" ~

1 John 3:2