“There’s nothing more interesting than the landscape of the human face.”
Facial Recognition
I asked my barber to do a complete shave-off this week. Beard, gone. ‘Stache, gone. Security, gone.
So I documented the change by trying on a couple of my favorite hats to see how the new guy would look in them. I felt like I’d just come out of the Makeup and Wardrobe Department, transformed into a character I’d never seen before. It was jarring and exhilarating all at once. Here are the before and afters:
Attached to a version of myself
Part of my cancer treatment was (and still is) using a ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting to heal the terrain that sprouted cancer’s growth. A side-benefit was that I lost some weight; and I knew that as I thinned-out, I could become more comfortable changing up my appearance.
It’s telling how attached I had become to a particular version of myself, and the struggle to come to terms with the new guy in the mirror. (Now that a few days have passed, I’m feeling more comfortable with the new guy. Even beginning to appreciate the change: It’s an option I didn’t think I had.)
Reading faces
Our faces are the primary way others experience us. They transmit joy, anger, disgust. We “read” each other for cues; scanning for safety and acceptance. And our faces will either befriend or betray us: They are the outward expression of the inner experience.
The face is significant, biblically, as well. Consider the following from Easton’s Bible Dictionary:
Adam and Eve hid from the “face of the Lord” (or his “presence”).
Jews prayed with their face toward the temple and Jerusalem.
To ‘see God’s face’ is to have access to him and to enjoy his favour. (Psalm 17:15; 27:8)
Seek My Face
Jesus directs our attention to his own face: “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” (Psalm 27:8) What is it about Jesus’ face? What are we convinced we’d “read” there? Disappointment? Judgement? Ambivalence?
Or favor. Fondness. Fidelity?
““Let God use your face.””
“Let God use your face.”
What if Jesus is the “Lifter of our heads” because he wants to see our face? Because there’s goodness there. Because shame dissolves as he gently tilts our head upwards. Because that’s where the unveiled glory is? Our faces are sacramental—a means of grace for others: Our countenance is a refuge for those looking for some light on the path.