I think it’s safe to say that among the things we take for granted, mirrors would make the top of our list. Just think about it for a second. What would you do without a mirror? How would you know what you look like? Ya, you could run to a puddle on a rainy day or take a walk to the nearest pond but work with me here. Just imagine a world with nothing we could look into to provide a reflexion of ourselves. Your face, the only one you have. The one you carry around with you everywhere you go. The one anyone but yourself can see clearly. The one you are touching right now. Yes, that one.

Without someone or something to provide you with a reflexion of your face you simply wouldn’t know what people see when they are looking at you. Even if you were to ask someone to describe you facial features you would still be left to ponder. What did they mean by that? When he said my nose is big, how big was he talking about?

There is really romantic book in the Bible where a young man and a young woman go back and forth telling of their love for one another. On one occasion the young man ventures into a description of the young woman’s face. Here is what he says :

Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats frisking down the slopes of Gilead. Your teeth are as white as sheep, newly shorn and washed. They are perfectly matched; not one is missing. Your lips are like a ribbon of scarlet. Oh, how beautiful your mouth! Your cheeks behind your  veil are like pomegranate halves – lovely and delicious. (Song of Songs 4:1-3, New Living Translation)

I can imagine the young woman thinking, “oh honey, that is so sweet! Wait a minute. What do you mean a flock of goats? I don’t even like pomegranates!” She gets so caught up trying to figure out what her face looks like in light of that description, she totally misses the next part when he says her neck is like a tower and her breasts are like the twin fawns of a gazelle.

So you see, without mirrors, even with your loved ones best intentions, you are still somewhat at a loss as far as knowing what your face really looks like. In other words, mirrors are quite useful.

We’ve all looked into one at least once today. If you haven’t yet, maybe you should take it into consideration. Just to be on the safe side.

The main reason why we’ve all taken a moment today to glance at a mirror is because we are aware of our inability to see what is going on with our face and hair unless we have the mirror to reflect our image back at us. Interestingly enough, rarely will we argue with the mirror’s assessment. If the mirror reveals left over Nutella on the tip of my nose I’ll immediately do something about it. If my tongue can’t reach it, I’ll wipe it off with something else. One thing is certain, at least I hope it is, I will not leave the house without having obeyed the mirror which is telling me, “look Georges, you’re not quite ready to go out there yet. You need to take care of the smudge on your face.”

If I didn’t have the mirror I would ask my wife and she would most certainly, and lovingly of course, point out the Nutella still hanging around. Then I, being the good husband that I am, would immediately take her word for it and wipe it away.

We need others and we need a reflexion of ourselves in order to know what we look like.

I wonder what else about myself, my personality, my character and my habits I am unable to clearly see without the help of someone or something else? Or is it just my face?