A Mirror for the Soul: A Wake-Up Call for Our Time

It’s becoming increasingly clear that many people around the world are deeply appalled by some of the individuals who have risen to leadership in recent years. We often ask ourselves: How could God allow people like this to take such powerful positions in our country and beyond? These figures seem to embody the very worst qualities humanity has cultivated since, if we choose a starting point, the days when Jesus walked among us as a teacher and guide.

Yet these leaders are supported by individuals who are often paralyzed by fear—fear of moral, religious, and social change. That fear drives them to seek comfort in sameness, and to reject those who look, speak, or believe differently. In the face of difference, their instinct is to diminish and dehumanize, to strip others of dignity and rights. This same fear-driven instinct even extends to animals, whose lives can be taken with the simple pull of a trigger—all in the name of power, control, and comfort. It’s no wonder the Second Amendment has become a sacred idol to those who find empowerment in the threat of violence against what they do not understand.

This is the world we live in. And it will continue until those of us who know a deeper truth choose to do something about it. But nothing will change until we are disgusted enough - not just by what we see, but by what we ourselves have allowed, ignored, or contributed to. In His grace, God has allowed the most narcissistic and self-serving among us to rise, not to curse us - but to mirror us.

Look into that mirror. How often have you reached into your pocket to help someone in need? How have greed, selfishness, or indifference shaped your choices? Our families, our systems, our culture, these all reflect back to us the very things we often judge in others.

Now, it’s time to turn the corner.

We must stop wasting energy in blame and outrage. Let us instead look inward. Before we project our shadows onto others, we must own them. This isn’t about defeating others; it’s about healing ourselves and through that, healing our communities.

These leaders are not our punishment. They are God’s galvanizing force, a call to awaken. Until we confront our own shadows, our apathy, greed, prejudice, and fear, these mirrors will remain. When we embrace redemption and commit to building a world where everyone is truly equal and seen, only then will the need for these harsh reflections fade.

Hatred will not remove the problem. Only deep integration, only the courage to own in ourselves what we most despise in others will.

The shadows we see in others are often reflections of what lies within ourselves.Until we recognize this, we’ll continue to respond with separation, blame, and division. But the truth is healing doesn’t come from more separation. It comes from integration.