The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. – Sydney Harris
I used to read Sydney Harris' syndicated column regularly. It made a great impression on me from the time I first encountered him as a 16-year-old high school student.
We encounter mirrors every morning. Most of us work hard trying to rearrange the reality presented there. Presto, the crystal ball! Who doesn't love the image of hope presented in the glass orb through whose eye we can imagine a bright future?
Crystal balls seem like fun. Mirrors seem like work.
But crystal balls are guesses. Mirrors provide current reality of a particular kind.
Most powerful of all, for caregivers, is neither of the above. What counts is to have a seeing heart.
A friend of mine recently experienced a double loss. In a short space of time he lost first his wife and then his hospital job. For a long time, he was inconsolable. On the other side of this darkness, he sees the world more brightly than he ever has. The fire of his twin pains have burnished his soul, burning away false views and distracting noise. Now, he finds deep joy in things like playing with his dog and talking with his teenage children.
In the midst of this terrible economy, my friend has less money and more joy. He finds himself uniquely equipped to deal with financial hardship because he understands the empty happiness money provides. In other words, whether he is gazing into his crystal ball or the unmeltable ice of the mirror, he is fine, just fine. His joy doesn't arise from anything outside, but from within.
What do you see in your mirror?
-Erie Chapman
Journal of Sacred Work 
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