I was about 8 years old when I remember my parents taking my brother and I to a fair for the first time. By then, we were already living in Torreón, city of the Mexican state of Coahuila. At these fairs there were a lot of booths, games and attractions, as well as delicious food.
I remember that we tried to get to the grounds just before the sun set, due to the oppressive heat at that time.
The fair was always full, lots of families and groups of friends enjoying themselves.
When we arrived we didn’t go directly to the food, because my brother and I wanted to go to the games first. And of course we didn’t want to “return” the food, hahaha.
My dad, very cautious, almost never, or rather never, got on any of the rides. Every time we went to a fair and we insisted that he get on, he reminded us of a story from when he and my mom were dating. It turns out that they went to a fair and my mom insisted that he go on a ride with her. My dad, knowing his limits, didn’t want to. But my mom seemed to take it as if he didn’t want to go on with her, and that was when my dad gave in.
The result was not pretty. My dad told me that when the ride started spinning, he began to change color, turning pale, and very dizzy. My mom shouted at the operator to stop the ride, but I don’t remember if they stopped it or not. When they got off, my dad had to run to the bathroom. Because of the dizziness, he “returned the food.” Since then, that anecdote was part of every visit to the fair.
As a family, when we went to the fair, for some reason I remember that the last thing we visited was the house of mirrors.
It was an enclosed space and the challenge was to find the exit. Inside, it was full of vertical mirrors. The mirrors had different ways of reflecting the image. There were mirrors in which I saw myself as very short. In others, I saw myself as very tall. In others, I saw myself as very wide, and in others, as if in waves.
While each of us continued looking for the exit, the images, besides making us laugh, confused us because they also reflected other people who were walking before or after where each of us was. It happened to me several times that I thought I was near my mother, but it wasn’t her, it was her reflection, and it was also in the opposite direction.
There are many places in Scripture where we are invited to be a light for others, but did you know that there is also a place where we are invited to be a reflection of the light of the gospel?
Has it ever happened to you that a mirror does not give you a faithful image or an adequate angle?
If you and I were mirrors, what would the image we would reflect be like?
Would we be showing a real image, a distorted image, or an image that makes others laugh?
In the House of Mirrors, those that gave a true reflection were the exception.
Mirrors help us see what we don’t see. Whether it’s ourselves, or spaces we can’t perceive. That’s why we have mirrors in our cars, to see “blind spots.”
A dirty mirror reflects a dull image. Or a mirror out of place, gives us an out of place image.
How can each of us reflect the light of the gospel to others in a more faithful and clear way?
If the Spirit leads you, ask Jesus the carpenter how to reflect the light of the good news. And perhaps, you will discover his reflection in you.
Marisol
P.S. We can hear about the call to reflect the light of the gospel in the acclamation before the gospel of the Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, year/cycle C.
