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Holy Mirrors
by Stephen Morrison Fri Jan 14, 2011 12:27 am
I came across this story recently:
Made me think of this Scripture in 2 Corinthians 3:18:
Here is my brief reflection on all of this:
As Christians and as the Church, our creed, our communities, our sense of call and hope are useful only if they reflect Christ's Light into the dark places of the world. People will not develop consequential faith simply by being absorbed into a so-called "Christian" culture (if such a thing is even possible). In fact, I believe popular Christian culture and its churches are guilty of developing deformative cultures, while washing down the Gospel with large gulps of rationalization. Consequential Christian faith reflects Christ who, as the missionary historian Andrew Walls explains, "sends his people as he was sent: to be the light to the world, to give healing and hope to the ill, and the weak and unwanted, to suffer, perhaps unjustly, on behalf of others." Only with this kind of missional imagination can consequential Christianity turn self-focused spirituality on its head and transform and heal a broken and dying world.
I hope this challenges your heart as much as it does mine!
When Robert Fulghum (the Unitarian minister who wrote Everything I Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten) attended a conference where the peace advocate Alexander Papaderos was speaking, he raised his hand when Papaderos asked if there were any questions: "Dr. Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?" Fulghum remembers people laughing as they gathered their belongings to leave.
But Papaderos took the question seriously. He fished out a small round mirror from his wallet as the room shushed. He began to tell about a day when, as a small child in a poor, remote village during World War II, he found the pieces of a broken mirror from a German motorcycle. "I tried to find all the pieces and put them together," he said. "But it was not possible. So I kept only the largest one. This one." He held up the mirror.
"I began to play with it as a boy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect the light into dark places where the sun would never shine- in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find. I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game, but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light. But light- truth, understanding, knowledge- is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it."
Papaderos then looked at Fulghum and concluded, "I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world....This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life."
Made me think of this Scripture in 2 Corinthians 3:18:
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Here is my brief reflection on all of this:
As Christians and as the Church, our creed, our communities, our sense of call and hope are useful only if they reflect Christ's Light into the dark places of the world. People will not develop consequential faith simply by being absorbed into a so-called "Christian" culture (if such a thing is even possible). In fact, I believe popular Christian culture and its churches are guilty of developing deformative cultures, while washing down the Gospel with large gulps of rationalization. Consequential Christian faith reflects Christ who, as the missionary historian Andrew Walls explains, "sends his people as he was sent: to be the light to the world, to give healing and hope to the ill, and the weak and unwanted, to suffer, perhaps unjustly, on behalf of others." Only with this kind of missional imagination can consequential Christianity turn self-focused spirituality on its head and transform and heal a broken and dying world.
I hope this challenges your heart as much as it does mine!
Last edited by weston on Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:46 am; edited 2 times in total (Reason for editing : putting Scripture in quote box)
Stephen Morrison- Posts : 2
Join date : 2010-02-13
Re: Holy Mirrors
by weston Mon Jan 24, 2011 10:56 am
Here is my brief reflection on all of this:
Nice play on words.
--
I think it is easy for people to get caught up in "playing church", and completely miss the duty we have as followers and believers of/in Christ. I think our church is definitely on the right track though. I know that when Noel asks "how many have shared their faith in the last 7 days?", I feel a twinge of conviction if I haven't, which is usually enough to inspire me to try to look for opportunities to share with someone that God brings across my path. Oftentimes, I find myself just waiting for the fish to jump in the boat, as it were. But, I know that I need to be more proactive in the sharing of my faith.
weston- Posts : 228
Join date : 2008-04-07 -
Re: Holy Mirrors
by Noel George Tue Feb 07, 2012 7:44 am
A quote from Ken Sande, of Peacemakers.net
"Reflect much on Jesus and His gospel, and you will reflect much of Jesus and His gospel."
"Reflect much on Jesus and His gospel, and you will reflect much of Jesus and His gospel."
Noel George- Posts : 261
Join date : 2008-04-09
Re: Holy Mirrors
by JonBonJolly Wed Feb 22, 2012 2:24 pm
Carl Medearis says in his book, Speaking of Jesus, that we speak of what we know. "Know Jesus and you will speak Jesus." Likewise, I believe we can reflect what we see. See Jesus and you will reflect Jesus.
JonBonJolly- Posts : 14
Join date : 2008-04-10
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