A magical mirror in the Harry Potter series that showed the “deepest and most desperate desire” of a person’s heart. In it the viewer could see their reflected self in a state of perfect happiness. Harry Potter first encountered the Mirror of Erised in his first year at the school, where he realized he could see himself surrounded by his family. For those who may not have noticed, “Erised” is desire spelled backards.
Desire is a funny thing. I believe desires are meant to serve a role in God’s plans, and are therefore innately good. He created us both fearfully and wonderfully, and part of the intricacy of His craftmanship is our desire. So, desire can’t be a bad thing. Its purpose is meant to lead us into goodness and beauty — specifically, the goodness and beauty of God. It’s when our desires run amuck that we get into trouble (c.f. Dan Allender’s definition of lust). Evil plays upon that, and even works to twist (pervert) our desires, but on a primal level there is something noble and good at the root of our desires (viz., a legitimate need). The scary part of desire, though, is that when we allow ourselves to feel it, we open ourselves up to both hope and disappointment. For many, our lives have been so fraught with disappointment that we stop allowing ourselves to feel or recognize our desires. We push them down. We tune them out. Because we can’t bear the pain of disappointment.
Part of redemption is exposing ourselves and our desires before God and asking Him to meet the needs behind them in healthy and good ways. If you were able to gaze into a mirror like this, what would you see?
In John 5, Jesus encountered a paralytic man in Jerusalem, near the Pool of Bethesda, who had been in that condition for 38 years. The local legend was that an angel of the Lord would come and disturb the waters (evidenced by the bubbles that would come up in the pool), and the first person to step into it afterwards was healed. In the midst of a crowd of other sick people, Jesus saw him, and knew that he had already been there for a long time hoping to be healed… but never was. Here, Jesus looks at him and asks, “Do you want [desire] to be healed?” The man answered, “Sir, I have no one to help me in […]”
Do you see it? He can’t even bring himself to say, “Yes.” He explains, “I’ve tried for so long, but it’s never enough.” It’s as if he is admitting, “Yes. I want it, but I can’t afford to hold out hope any longer because I know I’m just going to be disappointed again.” I imagine Jesus looking intently at him and nodding, as if to signify, “Well? Do you…? Want to be healed?” Then Jesus tells him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Immediately, the man was healed.
Imagine the joy that must have filled him in that moment! Because he allowed himself, one more time, to hold out hope. Yes, hope is certainly risky. Yes, we can be disappointed. But, it’s when we allow ourselves to hope, recognizing our desires (and the needs behind them) that we allow God the opportunity to move in us. Would you dare to extend hope to those greatest desires that you’ve buried so deep down inside of you? Would I? I pray that we would!
Today, if you looked intently into that mirror — the Mirror of Erised — what would it show you?
