Week 166

Positive post Sunday, April 26, 2020- Week 166. 

Yesterday morning, like I do most mornings, after waking up I took a quick look in the mirror to make sure my physical appearance was presentable for the day ahead filled with Skype and Teams virtual meetings.  As I’m sure Michele Lomen Rendler, my children (especially Alison) and grandchildren (especially Kendall and Nikole) would comment, I didn’t need to worry about combing my hair 😊.  

For some reason, yesterday morning was different, perhaps the good Lord was reaching out to me.  While looking deeper into the mirror, I remembered a past reading during Lent.  So, I went back into my archives and reread the reading from Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent when I once again received my daily dose of thoughtful spiritual insights from Loyola Press, a Jesuit Ministry.  The reading that Thursday from Megan Arteaga is what made me stop and look deeper into the mirror and reflect on what image I saw, not physically but spiritually.

Here’s the reading:  The mirror is an unavoidable part of my morning routine. I catch glimpses of myself multiple times before I head out the door: while brushing my teeth, combing my hair, and deciding if my shoes match my outfit or not. What I see is rarely surprising, since the task of the mirror is simply to reflect what’s in front of it. But what if I were the mirror? What am I facing in my life that I would reflect? Would it be envy over my friends’ perfectly filtered Instagram posts? Pride at thinking I’m “not a terrible person”? Laziness in not striving for a closer relationship with God? If I were the mirror, my hope would be that there be at least a few times when I would be living my life in such a way that it would allow a glimpse of the face of God to shine through to the people around me.  

— Megan Arteaga

Youth Ministry Coordinator at Church of Santa Maria

Clayton, California

What spiritual image do you see when you look into the mirror, a man or woman of God?

Do you see a glimpse of God that could shine through to the people around you?