Prayer while shaving

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Aug 20, 2008

Who needs a tabernacle, when you can use a mirror?

A Catholic priest in India, the founder of the Universal Solidarity Movement, has devised a new form of prayer: in a small room dominated by a large mirror. The faithful are asked to spend an hour gazing at the image of themselves, and discover the god within.

"I realized God within me, not in a church," reports one happy customer. 

Father Varghese Alengaden, the mystic behind this breakthrough in spirituality, says that by staring at themselves, people come to realize that they are images of God. This promotes universal solidarity, he continues, because we realize that there is no difference between Christians and Hindus, etc. And he has a point, you know. If your prayer consists in staring at yourself, the particulars of your creed don't matter too much. Lex orandi and all that. 

Personally, I must confess that I am not ready for such an advanced form of prayer. When I stare into the mirror for any length of time-- a practice that I generally avoid-- the revelations that I experience are more mundane. I realize, for instance, that the razor doesn't get at that spot right beneath my nose. And the god within is a bit too well hidden; I could use a few more hours at the gym. 

Still, Snow White's stepmother would have loved it.