slightly distorted

In March, Christine Ruth, at Cedarbrook church was speaking on marriage: the refiner's fire. She used the analogy of a mirror to depict how a marriage should operate as a way to see ourselves. It was interesting that she pointed out that at times our spouses (or closest friends) bring out the worst in us. It is that this is to be expected, and we have the opportunity to grow because of it. Our soul's mirrors extend to our relationships with our children, co-workers, and friends. This is then one of the many ways that community is used as a 'refiner's fire' to expose the flaws within us.
Just recently I have been reading Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L'Engle. She also writes of the our need for a mirror in others.
"I don't know what I'm like. I get glimpses of myself in other people's eyes. I try to be careful whom I use as a mirror: my husband; my children; my mother; the friends of my right hand. If I do something which disappoints them I can easily read it in their responses. They mirror their pleasure or approval, too."
She goes on to say that we aren't always careful of our mirrors. We choose to view ourselves through someone else's mirror, rather than the mirror that is meant to be distinctly for us. Christine Ruth closed her talk by saying that it is in a relationship with Christ that we have the opportunity to allow his refiner's fire to "surface the dross and form us into the pure, tested, and beautiful image of God". I would pray that there is more reflected from within than just me - my wishes, my desires, my thoughts, my demands; but also the love of Christ and the peace of the abundance of life lived in relationship with Him.