I want to thank those of you who keep checking back to see if I have posted any blogs. I noticed this morning that I have just crossed over the 10,000 page view mark. I want you to know that I really appreciate that! Thank you for reading these words.
I'm one of those who has to "work myself up" to face certain situations...like life. No really, like dealing with other people. After I wrote The Gift, I experienced an epiphany. It was as if a complex set of concepts all came together at once and now....I am pressed to view things a bit differently. It's not a complete change in my way of living (though there are things I need to change) rather it is a greater willingness...or responsibility toward boldness.
I'm one of those who has to "work myself up" to face certain situations...like life. No really, like dealing with other people. After I wrote The Gift, I experienced an epiphany. It was as if a complex set of concepts all came together at once and now....I am pressed to view things a bit differently. It's not a complete change in my way of living (though there are things I need to change) rather it is a greater willingness...or responsibility toward boldness.
Someone once described me as a "nervous" person. I have to admit, though I dislike that that comes through...it is true. I won't go too much further, but I am the most introverted person I know. (That's kind of a joke since introverted people don't really get to know that many people.) It's been my excuse for not being more open and available to others. More that that, it's been my excuse for not being more open about and sharing my FAITH with others. My fear is an easy excuse to avoid boldness.
Speaking of projectors (just trust me)...
Projectors are good. I use them every day to flash PowerPoint slides up on the screen while I teach about psychology. They project my ideas, and the many (better) ideas of others up for the students to see. I work hard on those slides and change them every time I teach from them. They represent the best information and the best method for presenting it that I can come up with at the time. You get the picture? (ha ha) I work hard on them, I change them, I put MY slant on the information. I like to explain things as I see them (as you can tell).
Mirrors are different. The mirror doesn't lie, and won't allow me to put MY slant on what is seen, or not seen in the reflection. What is reflected is a perfect representation of what is causing the reflection. I may or may not like what I see in the mirror..but it is the truth.
I am here (on earth) to be a mirror...not a projector. I am here to reflect the Glory of my Creator, my Father God.
I think of the encouragement in the Bible:
"But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."
Matthew 10:19-20
That was Jesus talking to his 12 best friends, closest confidants, and brightest students. He didn't want them speaking out of their own wisdom in the most dire times in their lives...He reminded them that they just needed to mirror what God wants them to say, not project what they think they should say or do.
Projecting my own interpretation and "wisdom" into my witness is bound to be filled with inaccuracies. The mirror though, the mirror reflects the truth. Despite the mish-mash of genetics of which I am a product; despite the limitations of my personality, I was designed to be a perfect mirror of His Glory.
Even as I type that I imagine a broken, spotted, cloudy, mirror which fractures the image it is mirroring...but so did Paul:
"Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking round high and mighty!
At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size -- abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become." 2 Corinthians 12: 7-10 (The Message version)
I don't have to, nor am I designed to project myself...I am uniquely faceted to reflect Him.
I was created to be a mirror, not a projector.
It allows me to greet people a little more often. It allows me to step into someones life AS I AM, not as I think I am supposed to be.
It is hard to imagine this, but, in my Father's eyes, I am exactly what I am supposed to be...just right...His masterpiece...His child.
And so are you.
I am going to play Psychologist right now. I think, and this is just a theory, that this sentence says a lot about where your head is.
ReplyDelete'It is hard to imagine this, but, in my Father's eyes, I am exactly what I am supposed to be...just right...His masterpiece...His child.'
I think that if you substitute your FATHER, in that sentence, for God, and someone knows you the way that I know you, then a realization occurs. That statement is something that you wish, as much as I always have, was true.
A mirror also has a back and a front, and one can use a mirror to hide. You said so yourself that you are the most introverted person you know. Well guess what? You are the most introverted person I know too. And we happen to be best friends.
So the mirror analogy is an interesting one that you pulled out, and one that you should give some thought to. I don't see it as fractured at all. It is perfectly polished and glistening, but you are standing somewhere BEHIND it, and when most of us interact with you we see a lot of reflected surfaces of lots of things, including God, but where is the MAN?
Cause he is kind of important too I should think. ;)
You watch any of the draft this weekend? The Cowboys had a really intriguing first round pick.
I agree completely Dr. Ken. You and I and countless other men never got the message that they have what it takes to be a man; that they are good enough and have the pride of their fathers. Mostly because they never got that from their fathers either.
ReplyDeleteMy relationship with God though reminds me that I have all of those things and more. I'll never get that from my earthly father, but he didn't have it either.
As far as standing behind the mirror...That's a good turn on the metaphore. I appreciate you.
No, didn't catch the draft. You'llhave to tell me what the Cowboys did.
I need to hear that scripture these days. "My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness." Even though you wrote about it 6 yrs. ago, it has found its purpose again in these days for me.
ReplyDelete