A dictionary definition of reflection is “a thought or writing about something, particularly in the past, or what one sees when looking into a body of water.” I’d like to add that reflections can be what others see in our eyes or hear in our voices, or see in our actions. My granddaughter is, in many ways, a reflection of her mother, in her looks and her voice. In my son’s eyes, I see a reflection of my own grandmother, whose eyes were about the same color. Last night, I heard a speaker whose love of the Lord and sunny outlook on life was reflected in her tone and animated style of talking. And, a writer’s view of life is reflected in her writing.
A writer is both a reflector and a sponge. She soaks up a lot of images, words, outlooks, memories, and sifts through them. Which ones can show up later in characters? Which images can be used in settings? What unanswered questions or unexplained occurrence can be echoed in the next cozy mystery?
I enjoy writing dialogue. It is useful in describing the character who is speaking or who is being spoken about. Take, for example, the words of Vermouth Decker in Moonlight Can Be Murder: “You’re old Javin’s niece, ain’t you? The one I saw at the funeral. I don’t have nothin’ to say to you. You shouldn’t a come out here.” His voice chilled me more than the wind ruffling Ulysses’ fur.
Hopefully, the image that those words reflect is a clear and accurate reflection of an unpleasant man. And, when I speak in real life, what image am I reflecting, or to be more accurate, whose image do I mirror?
I am greatly concerned about the plight of Christians in the Middle East. I hope we all are. What do our actions and our prayers reveal about our concern? Are we, through churches and relief efforts, helping fellow Christians whose lives are in daily peril? They are surrounded by an enemy whose evil knows no bounds. Do they see the image of Christ as they look to us for help?
It’s not possible to get through life without being a reflector. The question is, what or whose image do we reflect?
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