The Mirror
I still remember the first time I became aware of my own mortality.
It wasn’t because of an illness. It wasn’t an accident. Nothing dramatic happened.
It was a chance encounter with a department store mirror.
To this day, the person I picture in my mind is still about 25 years old. Then I catch my reflection, and I’m reminded that while my mind has stood still, time never did.
Memory is a curious thing.
It preserves a version of us that no longer exists. While our bodies have quietly surrendered to the years, our minds keep returning to an earlier edition of ourselves, as though youth was a place we never really left.
Then comes the mirror.
For just a moment, two versions of ourselves meet. The one we’ve carried around in our minds for decades, and the one time has been faithfully shaping all along.
The older I get, the more I realize that time is undefeated. It has never skipped a single appointment. Every face eventually changes. Every body grows weaker. Every generation gives way to the next.
We spend so much of life trying to hold on to what was never ours to keep.
Maybe that’s why Scripture so often reminds us that this life is like a vapor. Not to make us fearful, but to help us see clearly. We were never created to place our hope in something as temporary as youth.
The mirror tells me I’m growing older.
The Gospel tells me I’m growing closer to home.
One message fills me with humility.
The other fills me with hope.
#FirstLight #Faith #Life #Perspective #Time #Hope