In The Looking Glass

Robert Yarbrough

As soon as I received the word “Reflection” for this issue, I heard The Supremes singing in my ear. The very next thought was associated with the Gospel Song, “When I Look Back Over My Life.” But for some reason, neither of these conceptual ideas fit this article. Hmmm….. All of a sudden like the coming of The Holy Spirit, I reflected back on the movie, “What The Bleep Do We Know,” and specifically on the part where the shaman saw disturbance on the water and kept looking until he was able to see the ships. Initially, he could only see the disturbance on the water and not the ships. The reason was that the ships were outside the realm of his conscious awareness. He had never seen ships of that kind before. It took time to make an impression on his mind and once this was complete he could see them.

When I peered through the looking glass to reflect, I couldn’t. There was no reflection. What I saw in the looking glass had never existed before. There was nothing to reflect upon; what I saw was real right now. There was a mystical magical scene in the looking glass, more vision than reflection. A vision of now and beyond.

First Corinthians 13:12 reads, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know, just as I am known.” This is what is in the looking glass. This is what we see. If it is a reflection, it is a reflection of the wholeness and completeness of our being-ness. Wowzie, who would have thought?

Isn’t it nice to see ourselves as we actually are? Mature, healthy, peaceful and pretty much fulfilled in this glorious experience called life. That which once seemed dark dissipates more and more with each breath we take. Yes, what we may think we remember is gone forever. But, if we look carefully, what we see now, what is reflected back to us is really pretty cool. And the good thing is that we don’t have to jump through any hoops to see it. All we must do is peer into the looking glass.

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– Rev. Bobby