Mirror Mirror

Slave in the magic mirror, come from the farthest space,
 through wind and darkness I summon thee. 
Speak! Let me see thy face.


~ The Queen, Sleeping Beauty

Early Friday morning

at our cycling class, I

looked over at 

my husband, spinning

his legs as hard as

he could, head down,

intensity in his face.

For an instance I

didn't see a 40 something

peddling off his

Thanksgiving indulgences

but instead

the 19 year old

that I first met,

shock of wavy

brown hair and

the deepest

brown eyes,

skinny as a rail.

I find that this

happens to me 

a lot....

Whether I'm gazing

at my nearly 5'7

twelve year old

who still acts,

well, 12, despite

his stature, or

the elderly person

creeping along in

their car in front

of me when I'm

{of course} in

a great big hurry.

And the more

{ahem}

challenging a person

is, the more I 

am able to use this

visualization to

stay calm and

purposeful.

As I see a tiny gray

head that now just 
clears the steering wheel, 

I think of the child

that used to peer

back at him or her

from the mirror.  A

perfect little blank

slate, before life

took it's scratches and 
nicks,  here and there.

The disappointments.

The disillusionments.

The close calls.
The hurts.

The heartaches.

I even use this technique

on myself, when

I feel that I haven't 

lived up to my own

expectations or I

didn't handle a

situation as well

as I would have

liked.  

I think of her.

Me, aged three

Would I be so

hard on this little

one, with her duck

down hair and

shy, hazel eyes?

When I am in

church and hear

the words

Child of God

I don't think of

a specific age...

A child of God can be

two or 102.

We are all

children in His eyes.

As a matter of

fact, I love the

idea of reverting,

physically, to 

our child-like selves

when we reach heaven,

all the while retaining

the wisdom and experience 
that we gained as

children of God

while living on earth.

The other day 

I was cleaning up

breakfast dishes

following the hurly-

burly of coats, bags

and books being corralled 
in the mad dash for the

bus.  In the quiet,

I turned up the TV

just in time to hear

a story about a 

little boy name Colton. 

This child died when

he was four years old

during emergency surgery 

but was later revived.  

Subsequently he was

able to reveal amazing

details about people

he had met while

he was gone.....

and things that 

he had seen,

such as relatives

who had passed away

years before his birth, 

including a sister who

had died in miscarriage 

and who he'd known 

nothing about.

He said that 
everyone

in heaven was 

a young

adult.

Huh.

Huh.

I pondered this as I

loaded the dishwasher

and sprayed down

the counters.

When I was in 

my 20's my grandma

once said to me

that although she

was older on the

outside, inside she

still felt like she 
was 17.

Gigi at 17 ~ 1934

I've never

forgotten that.

Funny that when we

are in the flush of

youth, dewy and

fresh-faced, we

don't always see

that when we look

in the mirror.  
Instead, we focus on 
those things that we are

dissatisfied with,

be it hair or skin,

height or weight.

I now wish that I'd 

really relished all

the positive physical

attributes that come

with being young!

Apparently, according to

{now eleven year-old} Colton, 

I will regain that youth

when I meet my

heavenly Father.  

I like that idea.

I find it comforting.

In the meantime,

when I stand in

the long line in

the post office

and see the grumpy

man working behind

the first window,

I.won't.see.him.

Instead, I will

choose to see a

little boy, glasses

perched on his 

nose, diligently

adding up sums

in his math book.

And I will say

a small grace in

my heart for that

little boy.

You know he's 

in there.

Some place.

As we go forth

during this joyful

yet hectic season,

fighting traffic and

standing in lines,

let's remember that

we are all children,

on the inside, and

try to treat everyone

we meet with the

same compassion

that we would a

little child.

A child of God.

Who do you

see when you

look in the mirror?




images:


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Google - 2, 10, 13, 15
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{click on image for attribution}
Privet & Holly - 3, 6, 8-9, 12

Posted in aging gracefully , compassion