“Mirror, Mirror on the Door”
Chaplain Bill Wolfe
Llano County Sheriff’s Department
Hello, and welcome to the first Chaplain’s Corner of 2006. As I said last month, this Christmas was different for us. I did all the driving, of course, but my wife and daughter took turns spending time with me in the old Crown Vic. (I can truthfully refer to it as “the old” because it’s a 2001 model. J) <sigh> But, you just can’t play 42 with only two people in a car at night…oh well, at least I wasn’t all alone on Christmas night.
A month or so back I keyed the mic and said: “757, Llano…I just took out a deer.” Of course the dispatcher’s first concern was “Is the car drivable? Do you need a wrecker?” THEN “Are you hurt?” At least that’s the way I remember it happening. J
So now I have something in common with my wife – we both hit deer in 2005. My encounter wasn’t nearly as costly to either the deer or to the vehicle as hers was, however. I was on the way to a counsel a 5-year-old on why not to dial
9-1-1 and why not to tell the dispatcher she couldn’t talk to Mommy, so I was driving closer to the speed limit than when I’m working traffic. One second there was nothing, the next a 6 point buck dropped his head and his rack had a close encounter with my driver’s side mirror. The deer got a bad headache and I got a busted mirror.
“Mirror, mirror on the door…” oh wait, that’s not how it goes. But it’s the mirror on the door, or the lack of it, that led my thoughts around to something to share with you and since a traditional part of the New Year is looking back at the Old Year as we plot our course through the coming one, I thought this would be an appropriate time.
After assessing the damage done by the deer, I was able to put the movable part of the mirror back onto the part that is mounted to the car door, but the glass was gone. Couldn’t find it anywhere… no pieces, no nothing. It was strange driving around without the side mirror being functional. Especially so in the dark. Vehicles would pass me, and I’d instinctively look to see if they had taillights, and poof! they were gone. Vanished into complete darkness. Then I’d realize that I just couldn’t see them ’cause the glass was gone. Duh.
I’d feel foolish for a minute and then tell myself that I’d best make triple sure to look behind if I was going to turn on someone. What you don’t know is coming can be fatal, and looking in a mirror without glass isn’t going to help at all. It was then that I realized that looking back is an important part of going forward.
Since it was around 0100 and there was no traffic visible in either direction for as far as one could see headlights, my mind was free to wonder and I began to think about the three mirrors in/on the car: driver’s side, inside, and passenger’s side. Several things popped to mind almost simultaneously: how the driver’s side is perhaps most important; there’s a big blind spot on the left using inside mirror, and the words printed on the passenger’s side mirror – “objects may be closer than they appear.” And as I’m sure you’ve guessed, it wasn’t but moments before I started to find the spiritual analogy. J
I identified the three mirrors as being perspectives of what lies behind us as well as what’s coming at us: the driver’s side corresponding to a Biblical view, the inside mirror corresponding to a secular view, and the passenger’s side corresponding to a personal view. Using all three “mirrors” provides the balance of information that allows us to go forward with assurance that we’re not going to get “T-boned.” (Making a U-turn is still traveling forward even though the direction has changed.) OK, so let’s see if I can present it in a way that makes sense.
The “Secular mirror.” When we reflect on our lives, we revisit the highs and lows, the goals met and unmet, the proverbial “forks in the road.” And very often, if we use only this view, we fail to recognize where God may have had a hand, or wanted to have a hand, in the course of our lives -- and we get a “blind spot.”
The “Personal mirror.” Not only are our lives an accumulation of events, they are an accumulation of the emotional reactions that went along with those events. Because they are “up close and personal” we may have trouble taking a “step back” and look at things objectively. This can give distorted perspective of what happened, the impact the event had on others, as well as what’s important. This mirror can still leave a blind spot by focusing too intently on how it made us “feel.”
The “Biblical mirror.” What’s God’s take on our lives? What would He say to us? What would He change in our lives? What does the Bible say is coming our way? Without the Biblical “view,” we could be in trouble. To say “I don’t need it” (the mirror is missing) or “it doesn’t hold meaning for me personally” (no glass) is very likely to get a person blind-sided.
Having read the Book of Revelation many, many times, I believe what it says is coming is coming. How many times have you heard: “If I’m gonna err, I wanta err on the side of caution.” There are some mistakes that you only get to make once.
Hey, thanks for letting me bend your ear for the past year. I’m looking forward to having you ride along again in 2006. Blessings to you and yours.
Chaplain Bill
llanochaps@moment.net
