Wednesday, October 12, 2016

The Mirror That Erased Ten Pounds and Added Five Inches of Height: A study in Reality Distortion



After repainting the house, I had to rehang a limited, tastefully sparse number of paintings. In the melange of wall coverings were two mirrors. One is an old full length mirror. As it leaned against the wall, the angle did something to its reflective qualities. As I walked by and saw my image, I gasped. I looked twelve inches taller and ten pounds thinner. Give me wrinkle eraser and cover my grey hair, and I could have been a super model. I am not heavy, being blessed with a fast metabolism, but how many of us could not use a few extra inches and few less pounds?

I am only a little ashamed to tell you how long I pirouetted in front of that mirror. A mirror that did not reflect what was, but transformed me into what could be!

Sadly, when I hung the mirror properly on the wall, the reflection was only a little skewed from reality. I was a little taller in the mirror than in real life, but not much. All that changed was the angle from which I was viewing the image cast by the mirror. The image didn't change, the mirror didn't change, but my perspective did and thus distorted reality depending on the varying angles from which I viewed it.

This is an amazing symbol, sent by God during a very tumultuous time. I am agonizing over the presidential choice. I read several articles a day, including those on Facebook by friends who ardently support one point of view or another. Most are impassioned, and some indignant that anyone could possibly not agree with them.

The 'mirror' is how Christians should vote. (My mirror would never include a Democrat candidate since I vehemently reject the pro-abortion plank. Sanctity of life is to me the single most important issue of any people since it underlies all other inalienable rights. Without the right to life, the entire foundation crumbles.) My mirror symbol completely excludes the possibility of voting for Hillary. And, I would not vote for her even if she were pro-life. I believe she should be in jail for the clear breach of national security, the lies and destruction of lives in her husband's 'bimbo eruption control', and her role in the deaths of our loyal public servants in the Benghazi embassy who begged repeatedly for help. (Not an exhaustive list.)

Thus, my mirror reflects what to do regarding the Republican choice for president. What we see in a candidate is different depending on our perspective, or 'angle of view'. The 'angles of view' include roughly the following:
1. What are the critical roles of the leader of our nation and how should we prioritize them? This list is in no particular order and not exhaustive. They are the things that come to mind immediately. Public safety, national security, integrity, sanctity of life, optimal good for greatest number of people, God's direction, fidelity to the core values of our Constitution and our nation.
2. Trump claims to be a Christian thus we can and should judge him by his fruits.
3. Trump became a Christian recently and thus he is young in the faith and we should not judge him by past actions but look at what he is doing and saying now.
4. We Christians cannot mar our testimony by voting for a man so devoid of moral character: an arrogant philanderer, vulgar and dismissive of others, owner of gambling casinos that have ruined so many lives, a flip-flopper only recently come to the pro-life movement. (Again, not exhaustive list.)
5. We Christians remember our own baby steps in the Lord and how sanctification is a process. Trump has many disturbing qualities but there are positives: he has surrounded himself with strong pro-life people, notably Pence. He is enormously successful, shrewd, energetic, reportedly genius IQ, understands how to build jobs and livelihoods for millions, pro-Israel, claims Christian values, pro-life, patriotic, great eloquent children, truthful (to a fault perhaps), is on record saying he will appoint conservative, pro-life judges in the mold of Scalia.

Note, depending on our angle of view, we may see a very different reality. I assume all committed Christians looking in the mirror want mostly to see what God would have them do. I also assume anyone who is agonizing over their vote loves their country and wants to do what will best serve our national interests, and the good of humankind. I do believe thoughtful, intelligent, committed Christians may come to different conclusions.

When my angle was skewed, reality was clearly distorted. It is only when I viewed the mirror's reflected image from the correct angle that I saw 'truth.'

Now, all I need to figure out is what is the correct angle in this presidential election?
***********************

Matthew 7:13-14 

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.

12 comments:

  1. Very early one morning, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. he reminded me God is always used imperfect people carry out his plans. And then He asked do you trust me? Trump is a baby Christian. This was after praying disgusting listening and knowing I wouldn't make up my mind until I walked into voting booth. The GOP and the Democrats are two sides of the same coin entrenched career politicians desperate to maintain the status quo. Scratching each other's backs, as they screw with people. God uses even donkeys to get his message out. We the People need to be in earnest fervent prayer. We need to beg God for mercy. I have a complete piece about voting for Trump. And I know the powers-that-be will continue to attack him mercilessly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very early one morning, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. he reminded me God is always used imperfect people carry out his plans. And then He asked do you trust me? Trump is a baby Christian. This was after praying disgusting listening and knowing I wouldn't make up my mind until I walked into voting booth. The GOP and the Democrats are two sides of the same coin entrenched career politicians desperate to maintain the status quo. Scratching each other's backs, as they screw with people. God uses even donkeys to get his message out. We the People need to be in earnest fervent prayer. We need to beg God for mercy. I have a complete piece about voting for Trump. And I know the powers-that-be will continue to attack him mercilessly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad you're getting to enjoy your home!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you! there is much to be said for a clean, newly painted home...

      Delete
  4. Glad you're getting to enjoy your home!

    ReplyDelete
  5. When I look at Trump I see a true patriot with good and honest intentions for our country. When I look at Hillary I see a dishonest criminal with bad intentions for our country who has at the very least bought the FBI director and the AG. My vote will go to TRUMP, no contest! Not even close.

    ReplyDelete
  6. When I look at Trump I see a true patriot with good and honest intentions for our country. When I look at Hillary I see a dishonest criminal with bad intentions for our country who has at the very least bought the FBI director and the AG. My vote will go to TRUMP, no contest! Not even close.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Voting for Trump, while I understand how people get there, to me is merely another form of the situational ethics. I think you may be struggling over this one because of your political views rather than your God views. For too long in our society, it's been easy to intertwine those. Perhaps God is showing us that wasn't so cool. **God** can use and redeem anyone. That's an entirely different matter than a **believer** throwing their lot in with a vulgar and evil man (one can just look at his current insults, the 10-year-old tape merely confirms that). The choice is difficult for those of us who have had a long history of marrying our politics to our religion. When viewed from the perspective of preserving a salt and light prophetic voice within the culture, it really isn't a difficult choice. If we vote for Trump, we are telling all politicians that we will tolerate anything as long as they give lip service to life, even if they then praise Planned Parenthood in their next breath. It's not a tough choice for me at all as I can all too easily imagine how voting for Trump could be a huge stumbling block to others when trying to talk to them about Jesus. Moreover, I can't imagine standing before Christ and trying to explain how a vote for Trump showed reliance on Jesus when society looked dark and bleak. I'll vote down ticket to preserve a Republican House and Senate if at all possible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure who you are voting for, as Trump sounds like the devil incarnate...there are third party choices, you know...

      Delete
    2. third party choice elects HIllary. I cannot in good conscience do that. I don't know what I will do, but I don't see any good way out of this terrible mess.

      Delete
    3. Wendy, I don't think I can vote top of the ticket this year at all. I've looked at the third party candidates, but am not thrilled with any of them either.

      Delete
  8. I think that you have to first look to your responsibility as a witness to Christ. I don't know where Trump is in his walk with God, but I've seen no evidence of a repentant heart. Even after his conversion, he was saying he didn't need to ask forgiveness because he'd never done anything wrong. It seems to me that voting for a man who acts the way Trump does is damaging to personal witness and to the church, as much as voting for Clinton would be. I don't want her to be president, but I'm also not willing to vote for someone who has demonstrated the character of Trump out of fear of Clinton. So I've made my decision about voting based on my principles and my conscience, what they are telling me is the choice that is best for the Kingdom. That means I am not voting for either Trump or Clinton and trusting God to take care of the rest.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.