The candle is, as one of my seminary professors used to tell us, “a symbol of the Spirit beyond ourselves.”1 Or as we note in our Bible Study and church meetings the lit candle reminds us that Christ is in the room present with us.

In seminary the candle I lit during my morning prayer time stood by a mirror. And over time I came to think of the candle’s reflection in the mirror as an apt symbol of how humans are images of God. The three dimensional candle representing God and the candle’s reflected image representing God’s image in each of us.

The reflected image in my mirror was a clear image, but as clear as the reflection was it could never be the same as the original. The reflection could only be seen, other dimensions of the source candle could not be experienced through the image. It could not be touched or smelt or heard to sizzle and pop; and it did not give off anywhere near the same heat as the candle did. But the image did reflect the beautiful light and it enhanced the glowing power of the candle making a big difference in how I saw and experienced the room. And the quality of the mirror made all the difference in that regard.

I often think of that candle and its reflection as a good example of how Christians should strive to be in life: reflecting the image of God as best we can, as clearly as we can, to bring as much of the God’s Divine Light into the darkness of the world.

I look at Jesus’s life, his words and acts in the gospels, and I see a human being who figured out how to be a crystal clear image of the light of God and shine it brightly in the world. So bright, that even light years away in history it is still illuminating, still radiant, still dazzling in our lives.

Unfortunately, the rest of us usually don’t so clearly reflect the image of God as Jesus did and does. As Paul suggests in 1 Corinthians “we [tend to] see now in a mirror dimly.” The images of God we reflect can often be dim and hard to see.

So what do we do? Well, ideally we work hard to clean up our lives, the reflective source of God, so that we more closely mirror, more clearly reflect the image of God and bring more of that Divine light within out to brighten up the darkness.

And the good news is that Jesus has shown us a Way to do this through spiritual practices.

Spirituality is the Holy Spirit calling us to make our reflected image of God brighter and better by participating, as Jesus did, in God’s presence and work in the world. 2 Spiritual practices are the processes we use to answer the Holy Spirit’s call to do this.

Put a little differently Spirituality is the desire to better reflect God’s image for the betterment of ourselves and creation; and spiritual practices are the methods we use to do that reflecting.

Marcus Borg, in his pleasant to read book The Heart of Christianity, notes that spiritual practice is about “[p]aying attention to God, [t]he formation of Christian identity, [n]ourishment, [c]ompassion and justice [and l]iving ‘the way.’”3

So, for example, by attending church and being involved in our church community or by studying and immersing ourselves in day-to-day Christian living we pay attention to God and form Christian identity.

Church nourishes us and helps us grow through worship, community, shared journey and joint outreach with, and for others. Most of you attend church regularly or participate in community so you do this already. But the more we do it the better!

Also when we pray through words or through meditation (reflecting on something) or contemplation (silent attention to God) we also nourish our souls. Most of us do this practice too, at least at church, but we could do this more and as a consequence not only grow as we do so, but also help our community and the world grow as well.

Acting as God’s hands and feet in the world through charity and social reform and transformation are ways that we practice compassion and justice in the world. Borg notes, aptly, that we do charity and reform a lot better than we do transformation of society, which is a huge part of what the Reign of God is all about – and what Jesus modeled for us.

At any rate, we can never do enough compassion or justice work in the world, and we are called and called and called to do more to help God’s creation.

All of the practices I have mentioned are a part of living the way that Jesus taught us. When we do them the mirror gets a little less dim; our reflection of God gets brighter and the world cannot help but be a better place because of it.

You probably remember Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 5 (14-15) that calls us to keep our lights out from under bushels and other dim places so that we can reflect God in our images and “let our light shine before others so that they may see [our] good works and give glory to [God] in heaven.”

But Jesus did not just talk he also walked the walk. He paid attention to God. He attended synagogue, was involved in his faith community and he not only worshiped God, but shared the journey and reached out to others. Jesus prayed and he certainly embodied God’s hands and feet in the world through charity and social reform and transformation 4.

And we can – indeed we must– tie this into the part of today’s scripture that follows the declaration that we are made in God’s image. In particular the part in the New Revised Standard Version of Genesis 1 verse 28 where God said “fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” This verse is especially important to consider this week as we commemorate Earth Day, a day that we consider this great sphere of rock and water and air and life that we live and move and have our being in.

Some have argued that Genesis 1:28 means God gave the earth to humanity to do as it wants. But “having dominion” and “subduing” the earth in the context of the text and ancient Hebrew means no such thing! The New Interpreter’s Bible commentary puts it like this: