What Do You See In The Mirror Part 1

What do you see when you look in the mirror? 

I have spent a lot of the last few years of my life looking into the mirror.  Almost everyday of college I found myself standing in front of one for hours and hours.  I would put myself in a room with only me and the mirror for very long spaces of time.  Some days it was an enlightening and exhilarating experience leaving me with a great sense of fulfillment and other days it was disheartening and discouraging in a way only tears can adequately explain.
One day I would see a beautiful person accomplishing her goals and headed in the right direction.  Nothing could stop me.  Others I saw a sad and defeated person who just couldn't measure up and who never would.  I saw a lack of progress and a waste of time.  Sometimes I would even turn out the light so it was impossible to see in the mirror and or I would turn my back so I could not see my reflection.  I learned to both love and hate what I saw in that mirror and even the mirror and the room itself.  Two emotions fighting within me, never knowing which one would come to surface the next day.

Now don't get all worried, I wasn't just going into a room to stare at myself, this is an overview of four years of my life as a music performance major on the violin.  Every day I was required to practice for four plus hours. This required a place where you could be alone and focus, or a practice room which was the size of a closet with only a stand and a mirror inside.  It was vitally important that you played in front of the mirror so you could see if you hands and arms were working in the correct way to produce the right sound.  If something sounded weird or a certain arm movement or finger pattern was not working, you could look carefully at yourself in the mirror and find the problem.  Sometimes you would lean off balance and it would distort the sound or your wrist would turn out in the wrong way or a finger wasn't curved enough.  It was a constant time of critiquing to become the best you could be and ultimately play the perfect performance.

On the days I really focused and practiced well, I would look in the mirror and see the professional concert violinist within me.  I knew my potential and I was working towards it.  Nothing could take away the joy of that hard, intensive practice session that left me feeling this way.  On the days I allowed myself to get distracted or not work as hard or practice lazily, I left downtrodden.  I could see nothing worth value in that mirror.  I just wanted to get away from it.  It all depended on what kind of focus I had had that day.

Now as a missionary I find myself looking into another kind of mirror.  On my desk I have a picture of Christ and the way it is sitting I can look into it and see my reflection in the glass.  With the picture there behind the glass I can literally see the image of Christ within my own.

In Alma chapter 5, Alma asks a piercing question.  He says "Can ye look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenance?"  Can you see Christ within you when you look in the mirror?  How can you even tell?

Well, when I acted like a professional violinist and practiced like a professional violinist with all the tools and knowledge I had to help me become so, is when I could see that potential within me.  I could literally see it in my reflection in the mirror.  Jesus Christ has told us of our potential by telling us who we are and what we need to do. 

In Romans 8:16 it says, 

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."

 Since we are the children of God, Ephesians 5:1 says,

 "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children."  

God just asks us to follow him and his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, as a child would follow a parent, because we literally are following our Heavenly Father and our elder brother.

So how do we do that?

Nephi tells us "And he(Christ) said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethern, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?" -2 Nephi 31:10

When you want to be a professional violinist, you get the books and study with the teachers that will show you how to become so, and then you practice every day.  So if I want to follow Christ and become like him, and therefore see his image within my countenance, I need to do the same.  Get the books, find the teachers, go to where they are and then practice!

The scriptures are the books and the prophets, apostles, leaders, parents, friends and teachers, and missionaries can be the teacher.  The more you study about and then try new techniques on the violin, the better you become.  The more you study and listen and learn and go to church and then try, the more you will become like Christ. 

So I ask you, "Can  you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenance?"
Yes...But it is going to be a process...

To be continued  :)