When we speak in class of Jesus being tempted by Satan, we talk about what is tempting to us and how that might be embarrassing if made known. This piece, from July 15, 2009, is about taking a long hard look at ourselves.As I've spent four days with Scott and Karen, I have increasingly noticed things that belonged to our folks; a living room chair, Dad's jewelry box where he kept his cuff links, a pitcher of blown glass. Something I did not see was a picture that hung in our parents' home for years, a print of Norman Rockwell's Girl At The Mirror, which always reminded me of my Aunt Jerry as a little girl. Karen told me Scott had bought it for Mom and Dad and that she thought the painting went to Meagan. It's one of my favorite works of art. Rockwell had a way of making the commonplace thought-provoking and reflective. The child in the piece is comparing herself to the starlet she sees in the magazine, obviously with trepidation. Most of us can relate to her anxiety. Physically and intellectually, socially and financially, we easily find others we deem to be our superiors. The Apostle Paul used the illustration of the mirror as he addressed spiritual issues. In 1st Corinthians 13:2, he wrote,
"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
When I take a long, hard look at my spiritual image, I feel like the girl who can't measure up. But Paul insists that what we know now is just a part of the picture, a fuzzy perception that won't come into focus on this side of eternity. That's reassuring for me- I may have a photogenic side after all!
Applicable quote of the day:
"Rockwell's art mirrors our world - or at least an ideal, slightly lost version of that world . . . . Mom and apple pie are very good institutions, and so was Rockwell's America - despite the presumed shortcomings of its seeming simplifications. Rockwell was really a very fine artist. He captured in ways no one else has how America was, and how a large part of it wants to be."
Robert Stern
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
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