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The man in the mirror
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Monday, June, 28, 2010
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by John Fischer
I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
No message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself and then make a change
A year ago last Friday Michael Jackson, the one who brought us this song, passed on. The timing is significant to me in that I have been struggling as of late with that man (the one in the mirror, I mean). My struggle has been to remember what he looks like.
I'm referring to a scripture verse in the Book of James that has always haunted me. I've always been drawn to this verse as if I should know why. For the longest time I have wondered what it meant; and then when I suddenly realized all to clearly what it meant, I found myself wishing I hadn't, because the meaning is too painful.
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves," it starts out. "Do what it says. Those who listen to the word but do not do what it says are like people who look at their faces in a mirror and, after looking at themselves, go away and immediately forget what they look like" (James 1: 22-23).
The reason he forgets what he looks like is that in the light of the word, he sees himself for the scoundrel that he really is, but because that view is too painful and requires too much change, he promptly forgets that picture and goes on his way, choosing to believe something else about himself and his circumstances rather than face the truth.
The right thing to do is remember what you look like, however painful, and use that as a reference point of change. Remember, and change. Remember, and change.
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