A friend is having surgery this week to remove something that has invaded her body. My thoughts are with her as she faces the uncertainty and pain. 

Mostly I pray for her, but today I prayed for the doctor who will do the cutting. What is it like to spend your life hunting for tumors, and scraping them out? I have trouble getting myself to take out the compost on a regular basis and that closely resembled lunch only a few days ago. Cancer is probably disgusting in the extreme. Yet many people are blessed, saved even, by the willingness of surgeons to know what it looks like, how it behaves, what gets rid of it and what prevents its return. 

All of us have attributes that should be eradicated. Contempt does as much to erode our health as any tumor, and can spread as quickly. But how do we recognize the disease without help? 

My daughter went to Africa and played with children who have never looked in a mirror. With the coming of clean water, they could for the first time see their own reflection. What a miracle to witness the curve of your chin, the color of your eyes,  the dent of your dimple, the turn of your smile.

Marriage can be a means for seeing ourselves more clearly. Watching how our spouse responds can give us a glimmer of what our moods look like. And unless we are correct in our assumption that we are already flawless, a clear reflection can bring helpful information.

Character blemishes, like grime, do wash off. But only if we see them first.