The Mirror -

Author Robert Fulghum tells this story of one of his
professors, a wise man whose name was Alexander
Papaderos:

At the last session on the last morning of a two-week
seminar on Greek culture, Dr. Papaderos turned and made
the ritual gesture: "Are there any questions?"

Quiet quilted the room. These two weeks had generated
enough questions for a lifetime, but for now, there was only
silence.

"No questions?" Papaderos swept the room with his
eyes.

So, I asked.

"Dr. Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?"

The usual laughter followed, and people stirred to go.

Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and
looked at me for a long time, asking with his eyes if I was
serious and seeing from my eyes that I was.

"I will answer your question."

Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a
leather billfold and brought out a very small round mirror,
about the size of a quarter.

And what he said went something like this:

"When I was a small child, during the war, we were
very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the
road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German
motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.

"I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but
it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This
one. And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round. I
began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the
fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun
would never shine--in deep holes and crevices and dark
closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most
inaccessible places I could find.

"I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my
growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and
continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I
grew to understand that this was not just a child's game but
a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to
understand that I am not the light or the source of light. But
light--truth, understanding, knowledge--is there, and it
will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.

"I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and
shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can
reflect light into the dark places of this world--into the
black places in the hearts of men--and change some things
in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise.
This is what I am about. This is the meaning of life."

And then he took his small mirror and, holding it
carefully, caught the bright rays of daylight streaming
through the window and reflected them onto my face and
onto my hands folded on the desk.

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world" (John 9:5), and
His followers are to be like that little mirror, reflecting the
light of Christ into the dark corners of the world. That is
the meaning of the Christian life. "Let your light shine
before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise
your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

Edited from Still More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice .
wayne@uyt.com http://www.youthspecialties.com/mall/browse/#illus

Copyright 1999 by Youth Specialties, Inc. http://www.youthspecialties.com/

By way of Daily Wisdom