Mirrors
Several years ago I noticed something strange: people seemed to be smiling at
me more often.
During my young adult years people had never smiled at me that much. Most of the
people I saw seemed to have grim, tense faces. They would look at me for only a
second or avert their eyes altogether. Sometimes they would nod or say "hi" but
more often said nothing at all.
All that seemed to change, though, as I got older. For some surprising reason
people were suddenly greeting me with a warm smile when I passed them. Their
eyes seemed to sparkle when they said, "hello" and many times they would even
stop to chat happily with me for a few minutes. At first I didn’t know what to
make of this. Had the whole world suddenly gotten kinder without telling me? Had
the hearts and souls of everyone I met suddenly grown more loving and joyful for
some reason?
Then one day when I was walking alone in a store the answer came to me. I was
thinking to myself of how much God loved me and of all the blessings I had been
given in this life. At that moment I walked by a display of mirrors and saw that
I had the happiest expression on my face.
I had been smiling without even knowing it. Then suddenly I realized that I was
the one who had changed. I had grown so much in love, joy, and oneness with God.
And it was the light shining from my own soul that others were reflecting back
to me.
We are all mirrors in this life. We all reflect each other’s love. We all share
each other’s light. We all help each other to become the image of God that we
were meant to be. May you always mirror every bit of goodness, kindness, and joy
that you see in this world. May your own soul always shine bright as well. And
may you make your whole life here a reflection of the light of Heaven and the
love of God.
Joseph J. Mazzella
joemazzella@frontier.com