I learned a valuable thing about mirrors from a professional photographer.  He actually staged his formal portraits of women in the dressing rooms of Neiman Marcus.  He explained that the flattering lights, soft-colored walls and exceptional mirrors helped his subjects see themselves as beautiful, as he snapped away.  And so their portraits were beautiful.

Does a mirror make you feel attractive or  make you cringe?   Does your spouse make you feel desirable, wise and capable – or does your spouse “say” something else?  Spiritual writers and psychologists call this “mirroring.”  Our spouses mirror who they think we are back to us each day.  That mirroring can be supportive or corrosive.

In this Sunday’s sermon we’ll think about the sacrament of marriage and the power of those mirrors in our marriages.  Husbands or wives have a sacred duty to provide mirroring messages for their partner – mirrors that support, inspire and tell the truth.

The most powerful mirror for our marriage, however, can come from God’s Word.  Sunday’s scripture lessons provide mirrors for a fruitful marriage.  We’ll learn that Christ’s love for the church mirrors marital love; and we’ll consider the story of a long-time couple and how their marriage can be a mirror for our own.

If you are widowed, divorced, or never married, this Sunday is also for you.  For God desires that everyone should see themselves in God’s mirror —  as beloved, worthy, and with purpose.

The mirror of God is spoken of in the very first book of the Bible:  God created humankind in his own image,  in the image of God he created them.  (Genesis 1: 27)  We were made to be mirrored by God!