Reflections

Mike Willock writes: Several weeks ago I was sitting in the hospitality room waiting for Barbara to finish a meeting when my eye was caught by the reflection of the window in the glass covering the table.

That’s when I took this picture. The top three panes show the view looking through the window. What looks like three more panes at the bottom of the picture are actually the reflection of the window panes on the glass table top.

Notice that you can see things in the reflection that are not visible in the direct view. The reflection actually shows what is above the direct view – the intense blue of the sky and more of the tree than can be seen looking directly through the window.

That led me to think about our understanding of God. When we look in the faces of those around us and come to understand and appreciate their life journeys and their experiences of God, we learn things about God we cannot know from our own direct experience. That then raises the question: What image of God do they see lived out and reflected in us, and how does that shape their understanding and their relationship with God?

Each of us is made in the image of God but we are each uniquely stamped with God’s image and given different gifts and abilities, all of which are needed to build the community of God. May we each truly reflect God’s creating work in us and together reveal a fuller understanding of God to those around us.