Again With the Mirrors

Reflection is everything.

It's one of the ways I am realizing that my time in Thailand is similar to my time at the cottage.

It's about three trips in when I first notice this parallel.  That there is something about being here at Hot Springs that puts me in mind of being in Georgian Bay.  It isn't so much a comparison of physical environment - there's no body of water here to speak of, and it's the opposite of solitude when you've got 20 some kids in the mix.  But it's more of a spiritual, emotional thing.  How I feel.  About a lot of things, but, with the mirrors, it's about how I feel about myself.

There are no full length mirrors at the cottage.  Neither are there any here, at least that I have easy access to.  Here I have one small mirror above the sink, and one magnifying mirror I bring with me.  At the cottage there's a decent sized mirror in the bathroom, again above the sink.  But the two other mirrors there are antique, mottled from the constant exposure to the winter's cold, I suppose,.  We keep them because they actually look artistic, and, let's face it, the place wouldn't be the same without them.

The result of this minimal mirror thing in each of these places is that I'm not seeing my reflection so much.  Enough to blow dry my hair and put on whatever little makeup is necessary.  But not enough to really spend any significant time critiquing my appearance. 

What ends up happening instead is that I am left to understand myself in other ways.

Here at Hot Springs lavish complements are the normal part of conversation.  Any opportunity to encourage one another by mentioning anything at all that you like or admire about the other person is taken full advantage of.  This they do with me (and other visitors would testify to this) and with one another.  If you see something good, mention it.  If you like something, say so.   And, it would seem, when you foster this habit, there's always something nice to say.

Apparently all my shirts are very beautiful, my hair is lovely, my nails are pretty, my heart is kind, and I speak Thai very well.  This I am told daily and often.   Now, in terms of other realities, I'm the heaviest woman here by - never mind, my other physical features don't hold a candle against the beauty of a Thai smile, and I'm struggling with the language all the time.  So I take in all these complements with a proverbial grain of salt (which might more accurately be a grain of rice here).  Still, I do take them in.  And there's a mystic effect to my self-understanding.  They hold up mirrors I can embrace without self-judgement.  They reflect who I want to become.

At the cottage, with solitude fully in play, and times on the dock at sunset a daily joy, and with opportunity to eat deeply of the honey of Scripture, I don't have a steady stream of compliments from others to consider.  Instead, I see reflected back at me the image my Creator wants me to see.  God's mirrors show me who I am.  Surprisingly, this is not the terrifying, shaming experience I once feared it would be.  Instead, He shows me who He already knows I will become, and woos me along towards that finished masterpiece.

Lest this sound rather self-indulgent, it actually is one of my faith's most compelling doctrines; that God sees me as the object of all He can offer, His masterpiece, His precious treasure.  And so much more.  

So, if God Himself wants to hold up His mirror and tell me incredible things about myself, I will work with Him to rid myself of the old ways of thinking that only seem to want to tear me down.  I can embrace this without self-judgement, since He, through Christ, has taken care of all of that judging stuff already. 

I will not do away with the mirrors at home.  I have some weight to lose and I actually do need their motivation.  And who wants to walk around with something trailing along behind you that you didn't notice because you were in too much of a hurry to check in the full length mirror?

But really.  This no-mirrors thing is such a gift.

It's a process. 
But I feel it here.
I feel it at the cottage. 
I want to bring this into every day. 
Not just for me. 
But for all the beautiful, shining souls around me who need to hear the good things about them.  Desperately. 
Like I do. 
So we can all believe together that we can become all God is dreaming we can be.