Quick Welcome Back from Hiatus
Hello everyone!
Well the summer is coming to a close, and that means that my summer hiatus is also concluding. It has been an interesting summer with the United States still in its abnormal state. Nonetheless, I am happy to have been able to relax for a few months.
Since I last wrote, I was a fresh graduate. Two months later, I am still a pretty new graduate, but I think I have had some time to just rest and think about what I want my life to look like now that school is over. Rest is so important for everyone, including writers like me. On my Instagram a few weeks ago (@amusingwriter), I explained a little bit about why the hiatus is necessary. I also participated in a photo challenge, so feel free to check that out!
The first reason is writers’ block. I know many writers who make lists during their period of inspiration to look back on when they hit the dreaded period of no inspiration, but unfortunately, I have yet to put this into practice.
The second reason is that I want to be able to ensure that what I write on this blog is inspired by prayer. Truly, prayer is what should drive us to do the things we do. Can we do things without prayer? Technically, yes. But the things we do that don’t come from prayer tend to stray towards a road of sin.
With that long introduction, I come to the topic I want to write on today: mirrors. Yesterday, I randomly decided to clean the mirror on my dresser. I’m going to be honest with you all…I don’t think I’ve cleaned that mirror since I got the dresser almost 6 years ago. Maybe…MAYBE I’ve wiped it down once or twice within that time since there were streak marks, but since I can’t remember if I did, I’m going to go the safe route and just say I haven’t done it in a very long time.
Since the beginning of August, I’ve been on a spiritual low, and I was feeling very down about it when I was lying in bed the yesterday. Knowing myself, I figured that if I cleaned something, I would feel better. I grabbed some Lysol, a stool, and a rag and got to work. (Windex was downstairs, and I couldn’t be bothered to get it…besides, Windex leaves streaks!) As I finished cleaning the mirror, I did a double take. There was my reflection, staring at me with piercing eyes. I got closer to the mirror. Every imperfection on my face was glaring at me, and the mirror was gleaning, free of dust. The room behind me looked so crisp and sharp.
I realized that there was so much dust on the surface of the mirror that over the years, I got used to looking at myself through dirt. And what a painfully accurate analogy to the spiritual life.
Cleaning the mirror is like going to Confession.
The longer one goes without Confession, the more distorted the reflection becomes. You begin to see yourself with a dusty lens, and the reflection becomes a lie. There are elements of truth in the reflection, and it certainly does the job! But you cannot detect the slow process of the collection of dust, just as you cannot detect the slow falling out of your relationship to Jesus. Only when you look back after a long period of time do you realize that what you had is not in good condition.
But the great thing about both confession and cleaning a mirror is that it’s never too late to do it. You have a chance every day to clean your literal and spiritual mirrors. Although cleaning your actual mirror everyday might be excessive, at least once a month should suffice. And that’s how often I usually make it to confession (although I could definitely do with more frequency)!
How often on a retreat are we allotted time for personal reflection? Every single time. Looking inward to reflect upon our relationship with God is a powerful experience in which you basically hold a mirror up to your soul and examine, bit by bit, what your spiritual life looks like. But how useful is it to reflect that spiritual image on a dirty mirror? I rest my case.
One final point about mirrors: no matter how clean your mirror is, it will always reverse the image. You will never experience what it is like coming face to face with yourself in person. Perhaps a sad thought to some, this undeniable truth points to the exact reason why we need Christ in our lives.
Jesus knows what it’s like to look at you face to face.
When, you may ask? At Adoration. When we see Jesus exposed in the monstrance, we get to gaze upon Him, and better yet, He gazes on us! If we let Him into our lives, He can show us how we appear to others in His own gentle way.
Think about it…you see a picture of yourself, and you look nothing like you thought you did in the mirror. It happens to the best of us. The truth is that no matter how much effort you put into your appearance, no matter how long you stand in front of a mirror tweaking every little mistake, you still have many blind spots and unexpected angles. A reflection is useful in many ways, but even a mirror has limitations.
So, allow yourself to look at your reflection – and be sure to keep cleaning the mirror! But let us remember to look to God, who loves us and wants us to step outside of ourselves in order to see an image of ourselves that goes further than a mere reflection…a full image and likeness of Him – body, mind, and soul!
Yours in Christ,
A Musing Writer 