I looked into the mirror the other day but didn’t recognize the image staring back at me. The problem was the pair of glasses I was wearing. They bear the teeth marks of my puppies.

     Apparently, the money I have spent on chewing toys is for naught. The lenses are so badly scratched I can barely see through to the other side. I do admit, however, my specks are as clean as a hound’s tooth.

     My impression is that Paul experienced a similar dilemma. Paul claimed that all of us look through a mirror dimly, which is to say that the image we perceive of ourselves is largely obscured. The implication being that our self-perception is an enigma or that our truest self remains a mystery.

     The author of the creation story in Genesis 1 cited that every human being is made in the image of God. However, St. Augustine once remarked that the divine image we presently see in ourselves is but a poor reflection of our Creator. Specifically, Augustine claimed:

          No one therefore should be surprised that in
         this fashion of seeing, which is allowed us in this
         life, namely through a mirror in an enigma, we
         have a struggle to see at all.

     Our capacity to see the glory within ourselves is distorted. Even worse is our ability to see any divine qualities in each other, particularly the people we dislike or with whom we disagree.

          Too often we see the worst in others. We
          assume their motives are shady. We speculate
          the other person is only out to better their
          present standing.

     But what if we took a different approach? What if we could see the redeeming qualities in others that Jesus sees in us? What if we looked for the potential in one another that Henry Higgins discovered in Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw’s play, Pygmalion?

     The truth is that we are all diamonds in the rough. The Scriptures declare that what we shall be one day will by God’s grace be revealed. Until such time, we cooperate with God’s Spirit through the practices of the Spiritual Disciplines of worship, prayer, and biblical meditation to sand down our sharp edges and polish our divine image.

     In the meantime, see your local optometrist should your vision fail to improve. And for dog owners, be careful where you lay your glasses down.