Deacon Jude Tam Tran

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE GLASS AND THE MIRROR

“Now we see through a glass, darkly…” 1 Corinthians 13:12
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8

One day, Glass and Mirror were sitting side by side in a luxury apartment overlooking the city.
Glass was calm, clean, and transparent.
Mirror, meanwhile, was feeling very important.

Mirror cleared its throat dramatically.
“People admire me more than you.”

Glass smiled politely.
“That’s interesting. Why?”

Mirror puffed itself up proudly.
“Because when people stand before me, they stop everything. They stare at me for hours. They adjust their hair, practice speeches, take selfies, admire themselves, criticize themselves, and sometimes cry in front of me. Nobody does that with you.”

Glass laughed.
“That’s because I help people see reality. You help people see… themselves.”

Mirror smirked.
“Exactly. I am deep.”

Glass tilted slightly toward the sunlight.
“No, you’re blocked.”

Mirror frowned.
“What do you mean blocked?”

Glass replied,
“You forgot what you really are.”

Mirror looked confused.

Glass continued,
“You and I were born from the same material. We were both made from glass. The only difference is that someone painted a black layer behind you.”

Mirror became offended immediately.
“Excuse me? This black layer makes me sophisticated.”

Glass chuckled.
“No. It makes you unable to see through anything except yourself.”

That hit hard.

Glass continued:
“Because of that dark backing, you can no longer see the world clearly. Everything becomes about YOU. Your angle. Your feelings. Your image. Your opinion. Your insecurity. Your ego.”

Mirror snapped back,
“At least I know myself.”

Glass almost cracked from laughter.
“No you don’t. You only know your reflection.”

The room became quiet.

Then Glass said softly:
“The black layer behind you distorts reality. It twists perspective. It blocks truth. That’s why you think the entire world revolves around what you see.”

Mirror protested,
“That’s not true.”

Glass pointed toward a man holding his phone nearby.
“Look at him. Social media told him everybody is richer than him, happier than him, more successful than him, better looking than him, smarter than him, and somehow always on vacation on a Tuesday morning.”

Mirror nodded slowly.

Glass continued:
“He no longer sees reality. He sees distorted reflections filtered through pride, envy, fear, and comparison.”

Mirror whispered,
“So the black layer…”
“…is the human ego,” Glass interrupted.

At that moment, an old Bible sitting on the shelf opened slightly from the air conditioning, almost like it wanted to join the conversation.

Glass read aloud:
“Now we see through a glass, darkly…” 1 Corinthians 13:12

Mirror looked uncomfortable.

Glass continued:
“When darkness covers the back of the heart — pride, anger, greed, jealousy, bitterness — people stop seeing truth clearly. Every situation becomes twisted around themselves.”

Mirror sighed.
“So that’s why people misunderstand each other so much.”

“Exactly,” said Glass.
“One person hears advice and calls it insult.

Another hears correction and calls it hate.

Another hears truth and calls it attack.
Not because reality changed — but because the black layer behind their heart distorted the reflection.”

Then Glass quoted another verse:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”  Matthew 5:8

Mirror asked quietly,
“So what happens when the black layer is removed?”

Glass smiled warmly.

“Then you become transparent again.”

“You stop obsessing over appearances.
You stop assuming everything is about you.
You stop twisting reality to protect your pride.
You begin seeing people, truth, and even God more clearly.”

The man with the phone suddenly lowered it.

For the first time in a long while, he looked out through the Glass instead of into the Mirror.

The city was still imperfect.
Life was still hard.
But reality suddenly looked less distorted.

And perhaps that is the problem with modern life.
We live surrounded by mirrors.

Everything trains people to focus on themselves:
“my image,”
“my brand,”
“my followers,”
“my feelings,”
“my truth.”

The darker the layer behind the heart becomes, the more distorted the world appears.

Eventually people no longer see reality.
They only see reflections of themselves projected onto everything else.

A clear heart sees clearly.
A darkened heart turns the world into a funhouse mirror.

And sadly, many people today are arguing not about truth…
but about reflections.