Mirror, Mirror.

I once read a quote from a woman who had been blind her entire life. She stated that she was grateful for her blindness, because it allowed her to focus on God rather than her outer appearance. When I read it, I thought to myself: Dang. She's way more spiritual than I will ever be.

But really, what she said is true. More than ever, we live in a culture of the self-obsessed. Mirrors, mirrors, everywhere. And I'm not just talking about the one over your bathroom sink.

A mirror is anything that keeps us so focused on ourselves, we are oblivious to the world--and even more tragically, to the people--around us. Caught in the reflection, we work, work, work to make the image staring back at us as pretty as possible.

My latest distraction of the sort? Facebook. It's taken me a long time to confront the issue head-on, but there can be no denying that Facebook is all about appearances. Uploading the right photos, posting the right statuses, judging by the likes and comments which parts of your life to adjust to maintain the best image. We spend so much time making our lives look good, we fail to stop and consider whether or not our lives are good.

I don't know about the rest of you, but my happiest times are the times when I am out living life, not posting statuses about it. We could be using Facebook, and all the other mess of social networks out there, to impact the lives of others, encouraging them, loving them. Instead, all too often, we're too worried about coming up with our next witty status to even consider what we might do for someone else who is struggling.

Believe me, I'm more guilty than anyone in this area. I'm still trying to work this out. All I know is, the only time I'm a decent human being is when my focus is outside of myself. When I'm loving others, or resting in the beauty of the world around me, or worshiping the God who created it.

This is why we were instructed to lose ourselves, dear children; for there is something so much greater left to find.