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| The Polished Mirror |
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What is the Polished Mirror? Blogs to Browse |
What is the Polished Mirror?Posted by Jess Austin Michalik, 1/11/05 at 9:54:19 AM.
Mission Statement
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I have been fully known.
And because for us there is no veil over the face, we all reflect as in a mirror the splendor of the Lord; thus we are all transfigured into his likeness, from splendor to splendor; such is the influence of the Lord who is Spirit.
The image of the mirror has been prominent in the literature of both Christianity and politics from the inception of these discourses. Medieval political tracts were often called Mirrors for Princes, and were designed to reflect the vices and virtues of the ruler back at him. In the quotations above, we see how Paul made use of mirror imagery, and one of Jesus’ most important messages seems to lie in the idea that we first have to look at ourselves, to remove the logs from our own eyes, before turning to the world. Even the story of Narcissus, infamous today as the first narcissist, was often used in Christian literature as a metaphor for the relation that humans have to God and Christ.
In medieval Christian discourse the material world itself was often spoken of as a reflection of the heavenly realm. Central to this idea has been the thought that, if we could just be cleansed of our individual distortions, we would be capable of reflecting not only our own limited contingent view of the cosmos, but rather the all in all, the Lord, the Logos, the Spirit. Separating us from the ability to perfectly reflect the Light is what Catherine of Genoa calls the “rust” of sin. Sin is not the violation of this or that law, but it is literally that which separates us from God; it is literally that which distorts our vision and prevents us from being God’s perfect reflection.
Perhaps it will seem overly pretentious then if I state that the purpose of this blog loosely construed is “clear sight” and the “removal of rust.” But nonetheless I hope that both for the editors and for those who read and comment on this blog, this site will be the occasion for many openings into clear vision, vision of the world and our shared political and ethical futures, and vision of the self, whereby each of us can look long into our heart of hearts to discover the sources of death and suffering that we might uproot them.
The editors of this site have found that (in general) the Christians of today have turned their backs on the sort of inward and reflective vision of Jesus and of Paul and instead use Christianity in a false and tendentious way to attack their enemies and to achieve political victories that have nothing whatever to do with Christ or his mission on this earth. Instead of seeking God that they might become one with Him, these Christians use biblical texts only to exploit them; they speak much about the letters of scripture and the importance of reading it, but know nothing of the Spirit, which must enter into us, which must save us and restore us into the Light where there is only Love. The letter of scripture is used to justify much killing and many prisons, but the Spirit which asks us to look within, to the kingdom within us, so that we might be transformed, the Spirit whose fruit and proof is freedom, love and peace, is forgotten, is trampled underfoot. Christians of today have come to hate the inner; they love only the outer Christianity of forms and commandments.
It is the purpose of this blog to represent a reflective and inward vision of Christianity as best we may. We will concern ourselves partly with rooting out the hypocrisy, the blindness, and the crookedness of many who have in recent times co-opted Christian discourse for purposes of bloodshed, oppression, and international crime. But more than this we will discuss techniques of prayer and mindfulness, paths of love and reflection, whereby we ourselves can become better and happier citizens of the cosmos.
The editors of this site (although mother and son) may not always agree on the issues; we may not always agree in interpretations. But nonetheless each of us have learned that by coming to see, by cleansing the doors of perception, as Blake would have it, an infinitude of creative and existential freedom awaits us. All of us together, as humans, are the Children of the Light, we are the Children of God. In our own minds, and through the Logos and language in which we share, the cosmos is brought into being by reflection. God is the all in all, and we participate in the glory and the beauty of creation. Should we so chose and accept the responsibility which this knowledge offers us, we can begin to tell new stories, to unfold a new narrative of truth through the Word with which we seek oneness. Let the veil be brought low that we might reflect the glory of existence.
Peace and Exhaltation to All.
Jess Austin Michalik
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