“Changed into the Same Image”

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne called “The Minister’s Black Veil.” Today, I’d like to start with another Hawthorne story: “The Great Stone Face.”

In the story, a man named Ernest lives in a small town in a valley. In the hills beside the town, there is a rock formation which resembles a face of a kindly man. His mother tells him that someday, the man whose features match the face will come.

Ernest studies the face throughout his life. From time to time, prominent people arrive in town whose features are rumored to match the face, but each time, Ernest is disappointed. One day, as Ernest speaks to an outdoor gathering, a visiting poet sees what none of Ernest’s neighbors has noticed. “Behold! Behold! Ernest is himself the likeness of the Great Stone Face!” Through many years of study and focus, Ernest had internalized the positive qualities of the face and had come to resemble it.

Alma asked the people of Zarahemla, “Have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances?” (Alma 5:14). He wanted them to think not only about what was happening in their mind and heart but about the external effect of that change. As we grow closer to God and as He changes our hearts, our appearance changes. We become more like Him, and it shows.

As Moses descended from Mount Sinai, the children of Israel could not look at his face because it shone so brightly. (See Exodus 34:29-30.) Paul called it “the glory of his countenance” (2 Corinthians 3:7). But Paul didn’t limit this to Moses. He recognized that each of us is capable of experiencing a similar transformation:

We all, with open [unveiled] face beholding as in a glass [mirror] the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:18

This is such a powerful image to me. Like Ernest, as we focus on the Savior, as we contemplate His life and teachings, as we trust in His grace, and as we strive to emulate Him, we gradually become more and more like Him. We may not notice the change from day to day, but as we strive to follow Him, the Holy Ghost sanctifies us, and little by little, we receive His image in our countenances.

Today, I will turn my heart and mind toward the Savior. I will remember Him. I will strive to become more like Him. I will trust Him to help me in that process.