The Mirror of Erised

John and I have be reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Store, his favorite. In the book, the orphaned Harry stumbles upon a the "Mirror of Erised" and is intrigued to see himself standing among his family. He spends hours in front of the mirror longing to have the connection reflected. Wise Dumbledore finds him and explains that the mirror reflects the deepest longing of a person's heart and that the happiest man on earth would be able to use it as a regular mirror.

Upon finishing the chapter, I began to think of the mirror. What would I see if I looked into the mirror? What should I see? My first thought was that I would see myself with my family in blissful security free from financial worry and stress. Wow that would be nice but as a Christian, I thought that is really not what I SHOULD be seeing is it? Then I thought, I should look in the mirror and see the world coming to faith in Christ. This is noble but I do not think that this should be the deepest longing of my heart. Next I considered seeing myself as God intended - sanctified and full of the Holy Spirit. As I thought of the things I should be seeing, another image was brought to my mind - this time from Lord of the Rings - Gandalf riding down a mountain on a white horse at the break of dawn with the light of dawn breaking through the dark night. That is when it hit me. If I was to find myself staring into the Mirror Erised, I should be blinded by the Glory of God. The deepest longing of my heart should be nothing more than, nothing less than, nothing other than Christ Jesus Himself.

For Jesus it was "I have come to do Thy will." (Hebrews 10:5-7) For Paul it was "to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21) My first was good. There is nothing wrong with my desiring financial security but it is not best. It is indeed noble to desire the nations come to Truth but it is not the best. It is a beautiful think to desire sanctification and right living. However, the best thing - the only thing really - is to desire the Lord. What comes to mind for me is the 6th verse of St. Patrick's hymn: Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me; Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

So, my prayer today will be for my heart's desire to truly be Christ.