Isaiah 5:21
21. Woe unto them that are wise in their own
eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
If I look into a mirror too often,
my eyes see my eyes that see my eyes that see my
eyes…
And I reflect upon my own reflection reflected back
at me
until I see what I want to see.
In a world without mirrors, how would we see ourselves?
With no light from watery or other shining surfaces,
how would we know what we look like?
Would I know that I am beautiful because others are attracted
to me
as butterflies are drawn to a glistening drop of golden
nectar in a rosy bloom?
Would I know that I am ugly because others turn away
from me
as noses recoil from piles of animal feces and
rotten refuse?
And what if some people come to me with keen and
happy interest
while others, at the same time, avoid me, repulsed?
How then am I to judge how I, the woman in the
wheelchair, look:
gorgeous or grotesque?
For I have been met by as much bewildered cringing as
bright and shining desire
and there has been no difference in me – the
difference is out of my hands.
And so I have concluded:
I am beautiful when beauty gazes upon me
and ugly when ugliness has me in its sight.
For a loving heart propagates beauty by touching a spirit
in need,
while a selfish heart breeds a cloud of stench that smears
the soul.
Christina
Chase
I wasn't feeling physically well or mentally sharp for this particular challenge – and it shows.
ReplyDeleteLater that evening, during the Ash Wednesday liturgy, I thought of how this line from Isaiah pertains so well to Adam and Eve. God told them that eating the fruit would have bad consequences. However, they looked with their own eyes and judged that the fruit was good to eat. They deemed their wisdom greater than God's. And woe to them…