Is there really a city called Tree Hill?Wikipedia says no, but I have known
people from the Carolinas that talk about
how life is in their part of the South, and
it seems pretty similar to what is depicted
in the show “One Tree Hill.”It must be too, because I keep seeing
it on most-watched TV show lists, especially
among teens.If you haven’t seen this show,
it’s now going into its seventh season on
the CW channel, and is about a group of
friends that deal with the stress of work,
family, and relationships (mostly
relationships).I would personally call it an update
on the usual teen drama series, the same
type that teen audiences have loved since 21
Jump Street, Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson’s
Creek, and The OC.
The most recent episode of the
series, called “Remember Me as a Time of
Day,” features snapshots of every
character in the show and where they’re at
in their life.Lucas and Peyton have gotten married
and had a baby girl, Nathan has worked his
way up in his basketball career and has
finally been picked to play for the
Charlotte Bobcats in the NBA, Brooke has
reconciled with her mother.At the very end of the episode, we
hear voices of different characters
narrating their different thoughts about
life.I
found one of these thoughts to be a little
thought-provoking and worth thinking about.At one point a voice enters the scene
and says, “Look at yourself in the mirror.Is it the person you want to be?”
As you know even better than I do,
high school is a time when people do look at
themselves in the mirror, and really do
decide if what they see is what they want to
be.I
would ask another question, though: Is the
mirror really what you want to look at to
decide what kind of a person you want to be?You can definitely find an outfit or
a look you like, and there’s nothing wrong
with looking nice, to be sure.What’s funny, though, is how often
I hear high schoolers tell me that things in
high school are too superficial, and way too
much about looks (and I love hearing people
say this).Where then, do we look to see what we
look like on the inside?
Simply put, the best place to see a
reflection of our inner selves, is, well,
reflection.Taking the time to reflect on ourselves, our lives, is the
best way to see what we look like on the
inside.When I say “reflect,” I’m
talking about spending time with the One who
knows us better than we know ourselves.When we spend time with God, He lets
us know where we’re at in life and where
we need to go- either in those peaceful
moments, or through other people, or some
other time.He has already given us a “road
map” on how to live our lives, and it’s
called the Bible, where we have the greatest
example of what inner health looks like, in
the Gospel of Jesus Christ.It seems so simple, and yet we act
like it’s so difficult, but prayer and
Bible reading should be part of our every
day life.Even if it’s just one verse we read
that day, we still expose ourselves to a
little bit of God’s word, and a little bit
of reflection.
How many times in the day do we look in the
mirror to see how we’re doing?We make sure our hair hasn’t been
messed up in the wind, if we’ve gotten
anything on our clothes, and if we still
look the same as we did when we walked out
our front door.How many times, however, do we try to look at our soul to
make sure everything’s okay?Probably not as many.And yet, even if we just take time at
the end of our day to say thank you to God
and read a little bit of His word to us, His
love letters to us, we help ourselves far
more than we realize.If we make this a regular part of our
life, God will let you know where you need
to go in your life and what you need to do
(unless He doesn’t, at least not right
away or how we’d expect, in which case He
has a reason for it).He will because He loves us.And slowly, but with certainty, we
will feel a deeper meaning come into our
lives, a fulfillment.Psalm 46 says “Be still, and know
that I am God.” (v. 10) Don’t let anyone
tell you this is too hard, or unrealistic.We can all do it if we decide we want
to do it.So maybe that phrase from “One Tree
Hill” should be, “Reflect.Is it the person you want to be?”
