I was privileged to backpack a couple of weeks ago into an area near the Enchantments, near Leavenworth.
Our group of five camped at Lake Colchuck, a beautiful lake at the base of Aasgard Pass. When we entered the area, snow and fog descended on us, but as the cold evening continued on, the fog cleared, as did the snow, and the lake became a reflection of the mountains surrounding its waters. At night before curling up in my sleeping bag, my Dad and I stood under the stars. It was bright enough the reflections of the jagged peaks wrapped in their snowy blankets were still visible in the calm water of the lake.
The morning dawned bright, clear and cold. We enjoyed our warm breakfast and the warm sunshine. We hiked our way around the lake and colorful mirrors of new things captured our gaze. Golden larches, blue sky, leaves turning colors and fading green reflected on the turquoise waters.
As I enjoyed the trip, I also mentally and prayerfully chewed on a conversation with a brother on the way to the trail head. The conversation was deep enough to penetrate my heart and open it up for inspection. What I saw was not what I wanted to see, it was not this perfect, harmless object, no, instead I saw ugly sin. My brother acted as a mirror, helping me to see areas in my heart that needed redemption. The reflection of my heart was in definite contrast to the beauty that surrounded me.
As Christian brothers and sisters, we are called to hold one another accountable, to encourage and exhort one another, to act as a mirror and help provide a realistic perspective on what the other is doing. We are so blind sometimes to the harm we cause others, or the harm we cause to ourselves, that we need others to act as human reflectors so we can actually see and realize that we are sinning.
Who are you reflecting? Are your ‘mirror’ friends giving you realistic perspectives on your life, and do they call your crap? Are you a friend who realistically speaks into your friends’ lives? I must ask the very same questions myself.
The goal of reflecting each other is to ultimately encourage and help each other grow to better reflect Jesus. He is True Beauty, the One our hearts can humbly and joyfully reflect.
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