(One of the reflections in “My Life in Christ” gave me a quote to add to the random quotes that appear as “A Word” on the blog. Those quotes have to be short to fit in the space I’ve got, and I’m always on the watch for ones that are pithy enough to give a person something to think about in just a sentence or two. So I’ll highlight the “quotable” part, but the whole thought is worth reproducing here as well.)

Our soul is, so to say, a reflection of God’s countenance, and the brighter this reflection is, the clearer and calmer is the soul; and the less bright this reflection is, the darker, the more disturbed is the soul. And as our soul is our heart it is necessary that every truth of God should be reflected in it through feeling, through gratitude, and that there should be no reflection in it of any lie. Feel God’s love in the most pure mysteries, feel the truth of all prayers. Our heart is a mirror; as the objects of the outer world are reflected in an ordinary mirror, so ought the truth to be reflected with all exactitude in our hearts.

– St. John of Kronstadt, “My Life in Christ”