"When you find something in a human face that calls out to you, not just for help but in some sense for yourself, how far do you go in answering that call, how far can you go, seeing that you have your own life to get on with as much as he has his?"(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life." p.38)
Most of us know the phrase, "I never forget a face." And for the most part it is true. Faces I remember, and sometimes I even can put a name with a face.
We will sometimes talk about not forgetting the look on someones face. The facial expressions of sadness, surprise or happiness. You can usually tell how someone is responding to what you are doing by looking at their face.
I often try to remember to put a face to something when making a decision, or about to open my mouth with something that I think might be witty. How would the face I'm picturing respond to that? How will that decision impact that "face."
The most obvious "faces" in our lives are our family and friends. But there may be other "faces" that need to be a part of the image as well. The face of the stranger, and as a Christian the face of Christ himself. How does what I'm doing affect that face?
Who has that face that causes you to rush right out, or who may cause you to pause and reflect before acting? All of us have faces that are important in our lives. Some have names that are always on our lips. Some we may have to dig deep to remember the name, and there are those nameless ones who share nothing with us except a common humanity.
Blessings,
Ed
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