The Keeper of the Mirror
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“You are not meant to be a mirror for illusions. You are meant to be a reflection of the Real.” — Hazrat Inayat Khan
There’s a story in the Sufi tradition about a wise keeper of a sacred mirror. It was said this mirror could reflect the true nature of anything it beheld—person, place, or event. It showed not what people wanted to see, but what was.
Over time, powerful rulers feared the mirror. Its truth disrupted their authority. So they spread rumors: the mirror was cursed, dangerous, even blasphemous. Eventually, the keeper was forced to hide it deep underground.
Years later, in a time of great confusion and distortion—when lies were broadcast as law, and beauty was buried beneath fear—a child stumbled into the cave and uncovered the mirror. It didn’t shimmer. It didn’t shout. It simply reflected back the world as it was: aching, alive, broken, and full of the Divine.
The child wept. Not because the mirror was cruel, but because it was honest. In that honesty, something shifted. “I can see again,” she whispered.
Sometimes, I think about that story when I look at our world today.
We are surrounded by smoke and illusion—crafted images, half-truths, orchestrated distractions. Laws rewritten. Histories erased. People scapegoated. The project of authoritarianism doesn’t just rely on violence; it relies on distortion. It needs us to forget. To mistrust our senses. To believe that up is down, and wrong is right.
But the mirror still exists.
It exists when we listen deeply to those most harmed. It exists when we sit with our grief without numbing. It exists when we say no to sanitized narratives and yes to the messy truth. Maybe, we’re all being called to be keepers of that mirror now—not as judges, but as witnesses.
The question isn’t just “What’s happening?” The deeper question is: Will we keep our capacity to see clearly intact—even when truth is painful, even when lies are easier?
In a time of confusion, clarity is an act of resistance. Reflecting on the Real—rather than absorbing the illusion—is one of the highest spiritual tasks of our time.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
Where in my life or community have I begun to confuse illusion with truth?
What does it mean to be a “mirror of the Real” in a culture addicted to distortion?
A Prayer for the Day
To the One Who Sees Through
O Spirit who sees through shadow and shine,
keep my eyes clear.
Not hard—clear.
When the world offers me comfort in exchange for amnesia,
grant me the courage to remember.
When power demands silence for the sake of “peace,”
give me the voice of truth, spoken in love.
Make me a keeper of the sacred mirror—
reflecting not perfection, but presence.
Not spectacle, but soul.
Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Seeing Without Distortion
This week, spend 10 minutes each day in intentional stillness—no screens, no noise, just presence.
Ask yourself: “What am I seeing clearly today?” and “Where might I be caught in a distortion?”
If something arises—grief, anger, confusion—don’t try to fix it. Just notice it. Breathe. Stay.
Then ask one final question: What does love invite me to do next?
This is how the mirror stays polished, not through certainty, but through presence.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
May 19-22, 2025 - Preaching and Worship FREE Online Summit: From war to genocide to a global climate crisis to a nation that perpetuates racism, misogyny, transphobia, and more from the highest office in the land, how do we prepare a sermon, a liturgy, a song, a prayer? Learn from some of our best preachers. REGISTER HERE.
June 4, 2025, 12pm ET - Jeff Chu has written a new book on a topic close to my heart: Soil! The title is “Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand.” I am so pleased to be interviewing him. Together, we’ll explore what it means to cultivate “good soil” in our lives, our communities, and our spiritual practices. I hope you will register. Your registration includes a copy of his new book.
July 20-25, 2025 - The Art of Wilding: A 5-Day Expedition in Wyoming for Women Leaders. Click here to learn more. Only one spot left!
August 11, 2025, 2pm ET - Dr. Andrew Root and I will be hosting a 6 part series on Spirituality in the Secular Age based on his research. The dates are August 11, 18, September 8, 15, and October 6, 13. Mark your calendars! More on this soon.
September 4, 4:30pm ET - I will be collaborating with the Anderson Forum for Progressive Theology to host a conversation with Thomas Jay Oord on Open and Relational theology. It’s a FREE event. Register here.
October 15-18, 2025 - Converging 2025: Sing Truth Conference (all musicians invited!) at Northwest Christian Church in Columbus, OH. Register here!
I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.
Todays meditation
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP82EHLh1/
Hooped is a term I picked up years from a co- worker when I was a working as a framing carpenter. I was new to the job and I’d built something in a way that wouldn’t work.. but I couldn’t see it. My seasoned co- worker looked at it and told me nicely that there was no point in continuing with it because I was “hooped.”
I don’t mean that we should give up caring. But we have known the risk since the 1990’s, and I believe we are out of time to avoid catastrophic climate change. I believe it has begun and that the IPCC has been much too conservative in their projections. Although I respect climate scientists like Katherine Hayhoe, I don’t believe it’s realistic to believe this civilization given its consumption, energy use and growth with it’s current economic/ banking / governing systems can make the kind of radical and immediate and change now required to avoid near term and catastrophic climate change. I’m sure climate geo- engineering will be put on the table… but that’s a very bad idea IMO.
Given what you’ve written, I think you understand.
But I didn’t even start getting spiritual until I had grappled with this situation (I’m not religious). Because reaching the end of being convinced that yes, certainly at least in an objective and materialist/ scientific….and not since “The Great Flood”…. has civilization been so unprecedentedly “ screwed” my opinion. But dealing with this reality is what led me to question things I hadn’t before… I’m taking what we know about the nature of reality itself.
It was an atheist climate doomer I really respected and that I was following for a while that happened upon a book by a scientist/ philosopher from Denmark named Bernardo Kastrup called Why Materialism Is Baloney that had shattered his life long belief in scientific materialism. Long story…but until I began to investigate things like the nature of consciousness I wasn’t able to open up enough to understand to the concept of non duality and “ mind over matter”…because all I could imagine was a really hopeless, pointless and depressing situation.