It is profound to me that the Bible tends to reflect back to a person 1.) who they are, and 2.) what they are looking for. It could be argued that this is purely a natural psychological phenomenon, but what if instead of being merely natural, the occurrence of this phenomenon was providential? What a compelling object a mirror is. An angry person will find wrath and judgment. A guilty person will find plenty of it. A caring person will find mercy. A doubter will find reasons to doubt. A dreamer will find high ideals to which to aspire. You will find what you are looking for. There is something about seeking God that somehow translates into, at a practical, emotional level, discovering the depths of one’s own soul. The spiritual pilgrimage and the self-discovery are frustratingly intertwined. I say ‘frustratingly’ because in taking a pilgrimage, a person aspires to seeking something bigger than himself; so the frustration is that the high-level motivating ideal conflicts with the more nuanced emotional reality. It’s almost like you have to get this wrong in order to get it right, which is to say that you might sincerely and devoutly act according to your conscience, and be out of wack in the execution, and God will still use it.
Getting back to the original question; why a mirror instead of a window? I am trying to figure out the value of the Bible being a mirror. I don’t have a clear answer for that yet… just a hunch.
See also: Dynamic Horizon
Andrew K. Banks 