The new owner of our three, young F3 Valais wethers sent us this adorable photo of the twin boys, Kaspar & Kilian, gazing into the “looking glass” of the sliding doors to the house. Apparently the third wether, Kasimir, who’s your typical mastermind, was playing lookout (or making mischief) somewhere else. I wondered if the lambs were trying to break and enter, fascinated by what they saw inside, or mesmerized by the light of their own reflections. I think I'll go with the poetic notion that they find their reflections glorious. Let me explain.
Most Christians are familiar with John 8:12 where Jesus says: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.“
What then, is this “divine light” (Rev. 21:23) but the glory of God radiated and revealed in his only begotten Son — Jesus!
Aren’t we always looking for traces of that glory? We look for it in ourselves: Mirror, mirror on the wall, do you see Christ in me at all?
We look for it in nature: in sunlight, in starlight, in spectacular sunsets, in the divine light of all of creation (including lambs!)…sparkling, so lovely to behold, so wonderfully made and reflective of our Lord’s infinite creativity and undivided light.
And we look for it in each other. To “feel” our way through the corresponding darkness of this world—those earthly afflictions of sadness, grief, loneliness, fractured relationships, isolation, and other sorrows that come with the human experience, or to suffer the darkness of evils not of our own choosing—is to necessarily take hold of one another’s hand and seek Christ in each other, “in whose light, do we see light.” (Psalm 36:9). As the early-twentieth century novelist Edith Wharton so beautifully put it: There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Each of us is called to be a Christ-bearer, conformed to the image and likeness of Christ — mirror images of our Lord! But since we’re also imperfect human beings, we must wait until we reach our heavenly home to receive the fullness of our light and likeness. Scripture tells us: For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 1 Cor. 13:12
And yet, right here, right now, we are being illuminated and transformed to the extent that we look for and receive Jesus in the glorious faces and places where He may be found (including within) and reflect Him back to the world around us…
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
2 Cor 3:18
As I write these very words, a pair of mourning doves (one of them nearly wedding-white!) has come to settle and coo on a low bough in the pine tree next to where I’m sitting, illuminating my soul with their peaceful presence. As for Kaspar and Kilian gazing into the looking glass, the light they bring to the world and to their new owner likewise radiates from within. Even the birds and animals are tasked with spreading light.
As for us humans, some days we’re the candle. Some days we’re the mirror. Whatever and wherever you are this particular day, let your Christ-Light shine so that others may see Him present in you and give unto Him the glory!
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Heb. 1-3
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