HOUSE OF MIRRORS

Long ago, in the days of yore, amusement parks had very few thrill rides. I remember there was usually a Ferris wheel, a roller coaster and maybe Tilt-a-Whirl. The Ferris wheel was mostly a series of stops for letting people off and on, the roller coaster was creaky but non-heart stopping and the Tilt-a-Whirl tilted but didn't really whirl.

In those days, which remain in the memories of fewer and fewer, the main attractions were ‘tossing something at something and win a prize games’ and ‘fun houses.’ The prizes for winning at the games were usually cheap little gadgets like Chinese handcuffs (I don’t think the Chinese ever used such a thing) and blocks which went up and down on their connecting bands. The really good prizes were impossible to win, so the throwing games didn't catch my attention much.

However, the fun houses for me were really a reason to go to an amusement park. All the houses, even though they had different themes like scary, funny and sick, were always full of surprises. Few of the youth will believe this, but in those days you WALKED through the fun houses. There were no little cars which looked like trains or cars to ride.

My favorite fun house was the House of Mirrors. Usually when you entered the House of Mirrors you were first met with a series of mirrors that were curved in various ways, so that when you approached them you were very fat, very thin or squiggly. After bending over laughing at how funny your friends looked you, entered into the main area of the House of Mirrors which contained a maze of mirrors set at various angles. The lights were dim so that it made it difficult to determine where there was an opening between the mirrors and where there was another mirror. You and your friends found great glee watching each other bang your heads into one mirror after another.

As I aged, one of my saddest discoveries was that life’s illusions were not only to be found in amusement parks, but were a large part of everyday life. The world became one gigantic House of Mirrors.

Most of the time when we see a reflection of ourselves we see the exact opposite of what the rest of the world sees when they look at us. I think one of the reasons that so many of us aren't really fond of our photographs is that we are looking at someone whose features are opposite from what we see daily in the mirror. Sadly, most of our friends seldom see the real us.

We grow to be skeptical of most people’s words because we learn that everyone has an agenda to promote when they open their mouths. As the joke goes - Question: ‘how do you know when a politician is lying?’ Answer ‘when he opens his mouth.’ Sadly, aging seems to make us feel like we are conversing with more and more people who sound like politicians.

When I was young hardly a week went by which didn't include reading a book about one of my sports heroes. Now the youth can't listen to or watch the news a single day without hearing of an athlete who has been hiding behind the mask of performance enhancement drugs or who has been acting like anything but a hero.

I guess I could find a level of contentment if illusion and deception were kept to the problems of this world alone, but sadly, almost daily we see an increase of the energies of evil as they seek to fulfill their declared purposes. “Verily I say unto you, that there are many spirits which are false spirits, which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the world. And also Satan hath sought to deceive you that he might overthrow you.” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:2, 3) And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an “angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God. And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. (Book of Mormon – 2 Nephi 2:18, 19)

C. S. Lewis in his book Screwtape Letters indicates that the way to deceive men and lead them away from God is to tell them that there is no devil. It also seems that Satan is trying to be just as effective in deceiving men and leading them away from God by telling them there is no God.

In our day of technological enlightenment, Screwtape seems to have declared victory in convincing men that there is no devil and is now putting all his forces into likewise convincing men that there is no God.

Satan’s deceptive House of Mirrors always goes something along the lines of the following verbiage:
Say you that God is good?

Say you that God is all Powerful and all Knowing?

Why then does he allow so much evil in the world?

Why has so much evil been done in his various names?

Is not religion a ruse to control the masses?

Why do so many leaders of religions seek only their own gain?

As illogical as it may seem to judge the Perfectness of God by looking through the prism of imperfect men, that is exactly the argument which Satan has proffered to dissuade men of the existence of God.

TRULY

I cannot judge the existence and goodness of God by the evil decisions and actions of men.

Nor can I judge the value of Religious tenets by the infidelity and inhumanity of those who say but do not do.

THEREFORE

I am left to judge the reality of God’s existence, in my life alone, by the degree to which my belief alters my actions and decisions.

Also, I am left to judge religion by the degree that my desire to become a better and more loving neighbor is changed through living its teachings.

HOPEFULLY

I will live so as to feel the promised joy associated with coming to know God.

And that I will live a life of love so that in every way all His children become my brothers and sisters.

My prayer is that we might somehow escape this devilish house of mirrors which we have entered into and as the ancient apostle Paul taught, “no longer see through the glass darkly.”

THOUGHTS FOR A SABBATH DAY – WILLIAM L. RILEY
EDITED BY – KATHLEEN W. RILEY
TRANSLATED BY – PATRICIA LOZADA STEWART