The mirror is a fascinating item. The hours of entertainment a dog or cat affords us while looking at their reflection in a mirror is so humorous. From an early age humans start to develop this love hate relationship with a mirror. Many of us remember Snow White and hearing the words “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, whose the fairest of them all.” The mirror can be our best friend or our dreaded enemy. How does our reflection appear to others?

The first problem with a mirror, it is three dimensional. Humans are complex beings and three dimensions only scratch the surface. For example, a mirror does not show the kindness of a person, the passion a person has in caring for others. The mirror is limited to show the physical reflection of the object in it’s view. You need transparency not reflection to see the true depth of an object.

The mirror reflects our true appearance, every flaw is viewable. Unforunately, people look at these flaws and see imperfections. The Japanese have a custom when something is dropped and broken, they fill the cracks with gold or some other valuble metal. The cracked object becomes art, flaws become workmanship accents. The mirror cannot show a person the condition of the heart, it like a camera, is limited to show only the external shapes and flaws of an object. It cannot show the roads a person has taken and the many lives that have been touched by the person. You have to go beyond the reflection to see such things.

The mirror takes our eyes off of others and concentrates all views on ourselves. Clay Crosse, a contemporary Gospel artist wrote a song a few years back called “Stain Glass Window”. This is one of the stanza’s:

“I took the stained glass window
And held it to the light
Years of hidden glory
Reappeared before my eyes

This is transparency. If only we could see things with transparency instead of reflection. The mirror reveals every grey hair, every wrinkle, every imperfection. It does not reflect the times we helped another person. It does not relflect the time we held our sick child and rocked them to sleep. It is not a good indicator of the love we have in our hearts. The mirror has its purpose, but given the choice, I will take the stain glass window.