P.E.W. Perspective

Today I had occasion to use a public restroom. As I finished washing my hands and turned to leave I was faced by a large mirror. It wasn’t a full-length mirror but it was large enough to see myself from the waist up. I was immediately struck by the image that I saw staring back at me. It was not because it was a particularly attractive image, not at all. It was because the question immediately came to mind, who is that guy? I have been around this earth for 72 years, so I certainly understood the concept of a mirror, and I knew that I was looking at a reflection of myself. 

Stay with me now, this may be a way of thinking that you are not familiar with. I know that I never thought of my image in this way. I am known as being somewhat introspective, and this was one of those prime examples. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I wondered, is what I see the real me? Or is what I think the real me? Is that flesh and blood bald-headed body covered with clothing and wearing glasses Chuck? Or is everything I am thinking and feeling the real Chuck? 

If someone were to ask you if you knew me, your brain would quickly peruse your memory banks and come up with an image. Oh yeah, you would say, I know him. But do you really know me, or just know the package that contains me. You may have spent a lot of time talking to me so you think you know the real me. You have to realize, however, that the things I say to you may not reflect how the real me thinks. I may have said to you what I knew you wanted to hear, or I may have given you an opinion about something that was not really what I believed, but I just didn’t want to hurt your feelings.  See the possibilities here?

A wise woman said, “It doesn’t matter what you say, what you do, or what you believe, what matters is how you do it, how you say it, how you go about it.” (Pastor Tara Thomas Smith)