Mirror, Mirror

Looking into the mirror, I see an unknown, but somehow familiar face staring back at me. It is not the face that was mine for most of my life; the eyes are dimmer, the face is fuller. Unexpected wrinkles and folds hide the man I once was. My hair is just as full as ever, but kept short in an older man’s cut; hair that once was held back only in a ponytail does not even touch my ears, let alone my shoulders. Heavier, somehow duller; unknown, but not unfamiliar, that is the reflection that I see.

I stare trying to determine who it is that I have become and I see my Father and his brothers. I recognize that I have the Holman’ head and nose. I look like my father in some ways, but I can also recognize my Uncle Arble and Uncle Roy, my eyes remind me of my beloved Aunt Deloris or Aunt Orpha. Life has in short order transformed me from a skinny rock-n-roller into a fat preacher. Life has robbed me of my youth and left standing in my place I man who resembles his father more than he resembles who he once was himself.

Spiritually I want to resemble my Father, not the father who helped to give me physical life, but the one who called my spirit man into existence. I wonder if the people around me notice a family resemblance to the One who is Love. When our Spirits touch, do they recognize the One who created them in me? As time has caused me to morph physically into the reflection of my birth family, has it also allowed me to be transformed more into His image? I hope so.

Three words, “God Is Love” changed the course of my life. Can the expression of that love through me help to transform the people He has allowed into my life? Will the man I conduct business with, the woman I speak to on the phone, the young man I pass in the car; will they see me or will My Father who is at work in me?

And who will they see in you? Will you reflect love or anger or mistrust or deceit? God’s Word clearly tells us that we are created in His image. Is His image clear in you or has the hardships of life left your countenance so distorted that He is unrecognizable? I pray you resemble your Father today in all you do.

The physical mirror reflects outward changes and an inward inheritance; I pray our spiritual mirrors would reflect inward changes that will lead to our eternal inheritance. Amen!