Mirror image

I attended the meeting of a local writing group a couple of evenings ago.  From the very front step, the house where we met seemed "put together," that illusive appearance I can never seem to pull off.  We all have gifts and talents, but that is not one of mine.  There was a cozy nook in the kitchen with two buffalo-print chairs, perfect for reading or chatting with a friend or child.  The artwork on the walls, even the furniture arrangement, looked welcoming.

It turns out that before my friend who lives there became a full-time fiction writer, she was an interior designer for twenty-five years.  She gave us a few decorating tips.  One way of gaining perspective on a room, she said, is to look at it through a mirror.  The reflection helps in determining "what works" and what doesn't belong.  We have only one set of eyes, but the mirror gives us another way of looking at the same thing.

The Bible talks about mirrors as a way of understanding the mysteries we live with, the things of God we don't comprehend.

For now we see in a mirror dimly,
but then face to face.
Now I know in part;
then I shall understand fully,
even as I have been fully understood.

                      1 Corinthians 13.12

Someday we will see things from a different perspective, what God already knows that we don't have yet the capacity to grasp, not just spare events that never quite fit, but God's seamless weaving of His purposes in dimensions we don't know even exist.

Someday that which has always been
   will suddenly make all the sense in the world.
And we will not just gasp,
        "Oh, that's why it happened,"
but "Oh, thank you, LORD, that it did."

Even now, LORD,
help me to see this situation differently.
Help me look through the mirror
             and see You.