NormsMilfordBlog

A quote that I saved some time back appealed to me this morning – “Let us be grateful to the mirror for revealing to us our appearance only.” ― Samuel Butler

Indeed, the mirror that we may gaze admiringly in only shows us what others see of us – our external, physical appearance. Imagine if there was a magic mirror in which we could “see” our soul and view all of our character flaws, prejudices and mistakes in judgement as blemishes upon that person that you see the normal mirror. Would that be a pretty reflection or an ugly one?

Perhaps there is such a mirror. Our conscience is supposed to be that mirror to our soul. For some looking into their conscience is a delusion or at best a contorted view. For them fact and fantasy become confused, and they “see” what they want to see, rather than what is really there. For others that mirror is a dark and foreboding place in which to peer, a place of self-loathing and despair. What do you see when you examine your conscience in that mirror?

It is said that our consciences were given to us by God so that we could tell the difference between right and wrong. Many call the conscience the voice of God in the back of our mind. If that is true, it is also true that we must listen for that voice, for it is often tiny and soft in the background.

The world we live in is fast and loud, full of shiny and tempting things. Sometimes life comes at us as if we are swept up in a storm. We receive inputs and demands from all directions and would be well-served to remember the advice of Craig D. Lounsbough – “I have both the violent turbulence of the storm and the quiet promises of God in the storm. And what I must work to remember is that something is not necessarily stronger simply because it’s louder.”

That makes it all the more important to take the advice that I wrote about some time ago that I saw on a gift store plaque – Make time for the quiet moments as God whispers and the world is loud. Those are times of quiet prayer…times to listen for the voice of God speaking through your conscience.

Take time each day in prayer to shut out the loudness of the world and look deeply into the mirror of your soul – your conscience. Do you like what you see there? Listen in those moments for the whispers of God and heed his words. Then, when you look into your soul, you can watch those blemishes fade away…your conscience will clear.

Having a clear conscience allows us a view of ourselves in the mirror of our soul without distortions and blemishes. I think you’ll like what you see there then.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 26th, 2021 at 11:57 am and is filed under faith, Inspiration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.