08 August 2005

Faces

Every Sunday in our third service (Mosaic) at church we do communion ala the Catholic Church. Men and women of different backgrounds and experiences come forward to recieve the body and blood of Christ. Sometimes the other ministers and I pray with the body as they come; sometimes we simply affirm them with a smile or hug.

Yesterday, I held the sacraments as each person came forward. One face was old-- wisdom and hardship were ever present. Another face was timid, unsure of what exactly was happening. Yet another face, much darker than the other two, had a sense of solidarity about her. It was almost as if she felt safe to be in the presence of other seekers and followers of Jesus. Several more faces came to recieve the meal. Each one bringing a different gift; each person a different story.

Christ is found on the faces of those around us. I see so many faces everyday that I get numb to this. But there they are, unavoidable.

The waitress at the restaraunt. The man changing the oil in my car. At first glance it is just another person trying to survive the rat race. A second glance reminds me of a different reality.

I know there's much to be said about learning a person's name. But I also think there's more to be said about simply seeing a person as just that. Not a way to get ahead, get service, get a response, etc. But a person who somehow, no matter how messy it might be, bears the image of a loving creator.

3 comments:

believingthomas said...

Josh,
thanks for the reminder. It makes me think about Jesus at Simon's house for dinner. I read that, who knows how many times, then I realized that it says Jesus looked at her when he talked to Simon. He saw her face.

Great thought.

Amanda said...

I have nothing wise to say; I just wanted to thank you for sharing your thoughts. It's so the truth. I needed to have it in front of me again, because it's incredibly easy to live in my own insecurity and see strangers as objects of fear or things to be avoided. Can't get the whole picture of God that way.

Anonymous said...

Josh,
I thank you very much for starting this blog website. It has helped me see things in multiple perspectives lately. I tend to see myself getting less irratated and mad at things. I do believe we have to look at everyone as children of God, not as strangers i completely agree with you on this. I hope i can become a good enough Christian, and not judge people for what they look like. We all know that is very wrong and embarassing to judge someone, especially if you misjudge them. For all you know they might be a future mate, or futeure best friend. Once again Thankyou for telling the class about this website, it opens new doors in my mind.
Thank you