Glory of Reflection

J. LILIAN VANDEVERE

There is a pretty fashion followed nowadays of placing a crystal globe on a pedestal in the garden. Looking into it, one may compass at a glance almost the entire circle of vision, from the flaming foreground of gladioli to the sequestered seat in the distant arbor. To the alert seeker for the spiritual interpretation of experience, this interesting ornament suggests that the human face may be made thus to mirror everything of beauty, both within and without.

Oftentimes though the lips do not move, there flashes over the face the trail of a fine emotion which tells us a story. It is the appearing of the strength of sure knowledge, the confidence of fearlessness, the light of Love. Indeed, these signs of good should glow upon our faces unfailingly, so that our love for and devotion to the ideal may be "known and read of all" about us; and this will surely come to pass if we are but mindful of our privilege ever to bear witness to the soverignty and the joy of Truth. This light, which is the first requisite for reflection, is the inner flame that of old haloed Moses when he had gained a measure of that wisdom that maketh the face to shine. The Scriptures continually admonish us to shine. Their admonitions range from the call of the prophets to Jesus' appeal to his little group of followers, his declaration that they and all after them who sought the Father in sincerity should be the light of a waiting world.

Those who have turned to Truth and caught something of its glory, realize in a degree that their light is come, and they are divinely impelled to radiate its beams. Every reflector throws light into otherwise dark places, and all true Christian Scientists leave this benediction wherever they go. Those in the darkness of material bondage are attracted by their glow, and daily they are turning to them with the cry, What keeps you so happy and well and unafraid? Thus they are led into the light of Life.

In the Weymouth translation of the New Testament, Paul speaks of Christian believers as "bright mirrors," and insists that it is their natural province to reflect God. As a mirrored form is clearest when the glass is flawless, we should make spiritual perfection the basis of our thought of God and man. When Truth and Love have thus become the health or wholeness of our countenance, all that shows there will be beautiful and lovable; our faces will "declare the glory of God." As thought is cleared of false beliefs, so that it reveals only the divine likeness, a new brightness shows in every lineament and a new spirit in every act. The business man has a finer sense of honesty, a keener judgment; the parent a more loving patience; the child a more ready obedience.

These higher conceptions of loveliness are speedily gained in Christian Science, and they necessarily effect our transformation. As we advance in spiritual understanding, we reflect the light divine more continuously and helpfully, and thus the saving Truth becomes more visible to our fellow men in what Mrs. Eddy in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 68) calls a "changed appearance and diviner form."

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