An Idea For The New Year
I ran across this a while back.
Andrews University professor Heather Thompson Day starts every new class the same way. Once her students have filed into the room and taken their seats, notebooks and charged laptops splayed on their desks, Day welcomes them with these words: "The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.
That's good. And it also applies to our spiritual journey toward maturity. It is oh so normal in these days of selfies and social media and curated images as we tip-toe through life to live in a room of mirrors. Self-absorption or even self-first living seems to be the order of the moment. Like the old line says, "Get all you can. Can all you get. Then sit on the can."
The problem with a life in a room of mirrors lies in the truth that we are built for something more, something better. In that room all we see is us, and we miss the life and opportunities just outside. When we only, or mostly, see the world in relation to ourselves we remove our gifts and abilities from making our corner of the vineyard a better and more fruitful place. We end up at a parking spot along our road that neither helps the world nor fulfills our design, and there can be an emptiness that rooms with us.
Certainly, there are times of crisis or pain or trauma where we need primarily to tend to our knitting, but there is a subtle draw to stay in a drawn-in state, a room of mirrors. And while it may look like a good place to hang out, it will slowly drain our vitality and isolate us from the life-giving life of an expansive life.
It seems Jesus believed this, as well. In the upper room, his last time with the close followers, Jesus tells them of a "new commandment." These Jewish men and women were well acquainted with commandments. Their leaders, over the centuries, had taken the scriptures and deciphered well north of 600 distinct rules for every aspect of life. Jesus had already said that the whole Law could be boiled down to "Love God and Love Others," now, in John 13:34, he sharpens the focus.
Let me give you a new commandment: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples - when they see the love you have for each other.
To walk toward living out this command calls for replacing the mirrors with windows to see others and their needs and your role in moving them forward toward becoming their best selves. What that looks like will differ from person to person, but the outcomes are similar. The result of living with windows to your world is a life invested in people and things that make a difference. It fills your sails with fresh wind as you sense the Spirit nudging you here and prompting you there. It causes us to see the world in a different light, where opportunities lie in most every encounter. At the end of the day, it is a good feeling to be used and used up, and where rest and sleep serve to restore hope and energy for whatever tomorrow brings.
At the end of 2021 and the dawn of '22, let's do some remodeling. How about taking down a mirror or two and replacing them with windows. Then choose to follow the command of the Savior and love one another...in the most practical ways possible. Lord knows, our world, our town, our church could use more of this.
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” - Muhamed Ali
And some music...
A little Lionel and Benny (look for friends you recognize in the background)
And because it's the end of '21...here are 2 funnies
Q: You’re riding a horse at full speed. You’re being chased by a lion and there’s a giraffe in the way in front of you. How will you escape this highly dangerous situation?
A: Get off the carousel.
Sadly, female airline pilots are still relatively uncommon. As a result, while in uniform, I’m often mistaken for a flight attendant, a ticket agent, or even a snack bar employee. One day, I was brushing my teeth in the restroom before a flight when a woman walked in. “My sister would be so proud of you!” she declared.
I figured her sister must also be in the airline business, so I smiled and asked why.
The woman responded, “She’s a dentist.”
