It was but a gross
fancy; yet in the fancy there is a spiritual truth. Gazing by faith
upon Christ, the lines of his beauty indeed print themselves on our
hearts. This is the meaning of St. Paul's word: "We all, with unveiled
face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed
into the same image." The Gospel is the mirror. There we see the
image of Christ. If we earnestly, continually, and lovingly behold it,
the effect will be the changing of our own lives into the same
likeness. The transformation is wrought by the divine Spirit, and our
part is only to behold, to continue beholding, the blessed beauty. We
sit before the camera, and our own picture is printed on the prepared
glass. We sit before Christ, and we become the camera, and his image
is printed on our soul.
There is a pathetic story of a French sculptor, which illustrates the
sacredness with which life's ideal should be cherished and guarded. He
was a genius, and was at work on his masterpiece. But he was a poor
man, and lived in a small garret, which was studio, workshop, and
bedroom to him. He had his statue almost finished, in clay, when one
night there came suddenly a great frost over the city. The sculptor
lay on his bed, with his statue before him in the centre of the
fireless room. As the chill air came down upon him, he knew that in
the intense cold there was danger that the water in the interstices of
the clay would freeze and destroy his precious work.
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