Mirrors

“The wearer of Grandmother’s (Lady Wisdom’s) clothes never thinks about how he or she looks, but thinks how handsome other people are” (George MacDonald, The Golden Key. p. 16).

I read today that “(Barzalel) made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the ministering women…” (Exodus 38:8).

Bezalel was the artisan that made the articles of the tabernacle in the wilderness. Here we’re told that certain “ministering women” gave up their precious copper mirrors to form the material for the bronze basin he was constructing.

“Giving up” our mirrors can be equally costly, but it can be a very good thing—for men as well as women. To be sure, we have to see that our faces are in place each morning, but too much scrutiny and self–examination can be disconcerting, especially as we age. Furthermore, it can be disorienting: It can make us think too much about ourselves, and not enough about others.

We should forget about our own faces just as soon as we can, remembering that God loves us as we are—in all our imperfection—and bring other’s faces to mind, thinking more about them than we do about ourselves (Philippians 2:4).

Augustine said that we get lost in loving ourselves, but found in loving others (Sermon 96:1). Put another way, the secret of happiness is not getting our face right but giving our hearts away, giving our lives away, giving our selves away, in love.

DHR