Protection and Reflection

On the way to work today, we passed a mirror that had been placed so as to provide drivers backing out onto a busy road with a way to see what was coming.

The problem was that I didn't recognize what it was. Mounted in front of the mirror was a large piece of Plexiglas. The plastic was so discolored that the view into the mirror was completely blocked. The mirror was useless, although it was protected from damage.

What do we protect so much that we render it unusable? Do we hold so tightly onto what we have been given that the gifts become useless? Do we fail to risk in our churches, protecting what we know so much that the ministry is unrecognizable? Do our lives -- the sacred mirrors for Christ -- reflect God at all? Or have we protected them into oblivion?

Image: Fall tree and sun in Ritter Park