Mirrors are simple yet fascinating devices – by reflecting light they create an image that is alike yet different from what is on this side of the glass. As a kid, I remember going to the carnival and being terrified more than once in the “House of Mirrors;” a maze of mirrored walls that, combined with creepy music and a vivid imagination, still gives me chills.
A particular image from those childhood memories was in that hall of glass where two mirrors on opposite walls faced each other; by looking at just the right angle, you could see your own image reflected and re-reflected in an endless series of diminishing portraits. It seemed like a window into another world, a glimpse of infinity that frightened and thrilled at the same time.
Mirrors allow us to see ourselves as others do, for better or worse. They can also be tools of trickery and deception when used by magicians or special effects artists to subtly change our perception of reality; where things appear or disappear effortlessly. Or they can amuse and entertain, such as in an arcade where the big becomes small, short becomes tall, and our sense of who or what is in the mirror becomes altered and begins to change.
Notably, hospital rooms are typically devoid of mirrors, for good reason. Skilled nursing and hospice rooms often will have a mirror, if you look hard enough, but it is usually covered with photographs, cards, coloring book pages from grandchildren; memories of a past reflected in the new reality of a patient’s room.
It is funny how these thoughts and images come to a person when they least expect it. In my case, it was one morning when looking in the bathroom mirror while shaving – a less frequent occurrence now that I am retired. I had been reading about the spiritual practice of experiencing God’s presence throughout the day, when it struck me: Do I see the presence of Christ/God when I look in the mirror? Do I see/feel His manifestation within me, as an integral part of who I am at the core, my identity?
I have often, most profoundly, felt God’s presence when looking into the face of someone to whom I am ministering as a Chaplain. In their suffering, in their pain, in their loneliness, isolation and helplessness. In their moments of joy having received good news. In their moments of despair when unwelcome news collapses their world around them. But how does one acquire that sense of God’s presence when gazing at their own reflection?
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
– 1 Corinthians 13:12
It reminded me of the promise St. Paul articulated in his first letter to the Corinthians: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face.” I get an eerie sense when reading this verse that Paul is telling us that our worldly experience, “for now,” at present, is only a dim reflection of the full glory and understanding we will enjoy once we come face to face with Our Lord and Maker. That any previous perception will become fully illuminated by a glorious “new heaven and a new earth.” (Revelation 21:1)
Paul’s illustrative and thought-provoking analogy about the reflection in a mirror yields a whole new perspective on the nature of existence and of God’s presence in the here and now. That the world surrounding us, as we know it, as we see it, although dimly lit, and at times hard to discern clearly, has the unmistakable and indelible handprint of our Creator. That through the acts of creation and incarnation, we are immersed in God’s graceful presence and the resounding love of our Redeemer. That is the present truth of His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
Paul invites us to look into that mirror, a looking glass into the heavenly realm. However dim or dark it may seem at times, there we see the reflection of the face of our Creator and the revealed image of our Savior. Like those opposing mirrors in the carnival house, the dim mirror of perception beckons us to peer into its infinite depths deeply, closely, gazing intently in the hope of catching a glimpse of the face of eternity in the light of life.
Yet, a mirror by itself is no magical device. Without light to reflect, a mirror may just as well be a slab of stone. Without light, what may have been a dim vision previously, turns into a cold, black void. It is light that brings life to what we see and creates our experience.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
– John 8:12
I suspect you may not have given it much thought, but what is light? Those little packets of energy called photons from a light emitting source; technically, it is the natural agent that stimulates sight making things visible. But one neat thing about light is that it is actually its reflection that allows us to see images. Grass is green because grass absorbs all the wavelengths of light except the green it reflects to our eyes.
It is the murky light of this world, in contrast to Jesus as the “light of the world,” which we currently see reflected in that dim mirror of which Paul speaks. That is what veils the promise of glory we will one day see fully face to face.
When Peter, James and John stood at the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8), they may very well have thought what they were witnessing was being performed with smoke and mirrors. But, in truth, for them, the clouded mirror of their reality momentarily cleared. The three disciples then saw clearly, albeit briefly, what lay behind. They saw the glory of God in Christ, face to face. For them, that was a light shining as bright as the sun with His garments becoming white as snow; His dazzling brightness which emanated from His entire body was produced by an interior shining of His divinity. They saw clearly, but they did not understand. Peter, bless his heart, reacted as humanity has done over the centuries when presented with a momentary glimpse of God’s glory; he wanted to put up a tent, a shrine, a monument to capture and imprison this divine vision. Invited to look beyond the mirror, yet trapped by his own human limitations, he did not understand, he could not fully know, not yet.
Like Peter, Paul was also invited to look beyond the mirror. On the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-9), he experienced that light and was given a vision of the glory of Christ. It was an image that unquestionably inspired who he became and informed all that he wrote, particularly what we read here addressed to that young church in Corinth. Paul’s epiphany, his glimpse through that unclouded mirror, caused him to realize that God reveals the divine to inspire love. And love is the only appropriate response to such a grace-filled invitation.
So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
– 1 Corinthians 13:13
That is the simple but profound truth that underpins all that we are, all that we believe, all that we do, here, now, and always. God does not reveal Himself to us so that we can build tents or shrines to memorialize the vision of His majesty under the umbrella of religion. Such trappings may indeed help us to focus our attention. They may assist in our search for traces of the divine in the dimly lit mirror of this existence. But they are no more than crutches, propping up our humanity in hopes of making us more sensitive to and aware of God’s gracious invitation.
The revelation of God in Christ demands far more from us than the construction of shrines. Instead, through His continuing self-revelation, God invites us repeatedly to respond in love. He desires that we pause to look in and through the clouded distortions of our own experience. To thankfully, prayerfully, worship the One who gives us the light of life and the ability to extend our hearts in love; first to Him and then to each other.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
– 1 Corinthians 13:12
What a glorious promise; although burdened with human limitations and the inevitable doubts that accompany what we do not know, that by faith, we will one day know fully what we can now know only in part. But there does seem to be a catch – to know fully requires us to be fully known; such is the wonderful paradox of God’s gracious love.
For us to learn to respond in and through love, to fully experience God’s presence, we must first learn how to open ourselves up to the risk of being known – completely known – we must learn how to be vulnerable. The reason that witnessing through ministry can be uncomfortable at times is that it requires self-exposure. In this world of dim and dark mirrors, such vulnerability is often seen as weakness since honest self-exposure frequently serves as an invitation for judgment or ridicule. Now we know only imperfectly, because we are so often incapable or unwilling to allow ourselves to be perfectly known. This is the risk we run in ministry, opening up and exposing ourselves; but we need look no further than the example of Christ as our model of vulnerability.
So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
– 1 Corinthians 13:13
In the supreme act of love, it was on the cross, that the Lord of the universe opened Himself up to all the painful self-exposure humanity could muster. Rejected, beaten savagely, mocked, humiliated beyond all imagination, and brutally executed, naked upon the cross. And yet, we believe that it was the most glorious moment in the history of humanity.
As on the Mount of the Transfiguration, it was on another mountain, Mount Calvary, where the glory of God’s infinite love entered the dim and dark mirror of our existence. It brought transfiguring grace to bear on all our human frailties, even the fearsome reality of death. Through the cross, God made our humanity the mirror of His transfigured glory.
On the cross, Jesus accepted the totality of our broken humanity, through His act of loving obedience. By His acceptance of all that it is to be human, He made humanity the instrument of our salvation. He made it possible that the light of life would be within us through faith, reflected from hearts illumined with love for Him as demonstrated through acts of loving kindness for one another.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.
– Matthew 5:14
So, staring in the mirror that morning, I found my answer. Paul’s words of promise and hope serve as a reminder that we are deeply loved by our Creator and Redeemer. That He is ever present to us. His light shines within us and is reflected by us as we bear faithful witness to His love. By allowing ourselves to be more fully known, we too will know Him more fully. That is His promise and the source of our eternal hope.
I may never look into a mirror the same way again.
Reflection questions:
- Next time you are in front of a mirror, take a good look at the light of life within you; what is God’s message of love illuminating in you?
- Here is another Scripture reference about what we see in a mirror: “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.” (James 1:23-24) What is your take on what James is saying here? How do you compare that with Paul’s message?
- Light is mentioned throughout Scripture. In fact, it is mentioned in profound terms right at the beginning of the Bible (Genesis 1:3-4) and at the very end (Revelation 21:23-24). Reflect on that fact and, particularly, the phrase “the light of life.”
Scripture References
1 Corinthians 13:12-13 Revelation 21:1 John 8:12 Matthew 17:1-8 Acts 9:1-9 Matthew 5:14 Genesis 1:3-4 Revelation 21:23-24
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