Faces give expression: eyes shine, eyebrows go up and down, ears wiggle, cheeks puff in and out, noses snort and mouths shout, whisper, smile, grumble, and wobble. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, well the face is the front door to the whole. There are typologies and theologies: for peoples faces will betray their beliefs, and we read a face to expect the type of embrace. Just like church services. Some people go around unkempt, dirty, smelly, and drunk, their faces soured by a pain inside. Not likeable, not easy to befriend. Or there are the fashionistas, deeply devoted to their statements. Made-up and groomed, models and metrosexuals at all the right parties in fashionable places. Their faces smile a façade that hides piled possessions balanced on debts of desire: aspirational, fickle, and hollow. Look through their face and its hard to find the person behind. Others wear a stern expression that belies the humanity inside. From years as children of repression, their body is held rigid under a face behind layers of crusty paint. A careful look into the eyes reveals the sadness of joys held securely inside. But there are a few who hold life lightly, like a beautiful flower they know it is only for a season, and so they flow with the river swimming freely to their destination. Their faces are relaxed and filled with a joy that comes with a freedom of expression. Their attractiveness is not in carefully constructed beauty, but from the naturalness of nature - a delight to know. We all know people like these. And because people make the church, so the faces of the church reveal the values inside. Each type of church - I'm sure you know them - each is (un)attractive in varying degrees, for like all typologies the boundaries can be fuzzy. But each face shows a family expression. Some are with the furrowed brows of resignation from those who stay together because the rules say they must. Some families pay no attention to how they look, and the result can be an unholy mess. Many families follow fashions, and so just about anything goes. Yet a few are simply well grounded in what's real, and as a result are fun to be around. Church services are a face of the family. Mention "church" and most people think of a building and the Sunday service - at least most people who are outside the rarefied atmosphere of those formally trained in the principles and praxis of religion. Services of course have components, and the theologically-trained will gladly give you the theology for all forms of worship, the value of liturgy, the necessity of confession and communion, and of preaching the word and power in prayer. But Jesus did not come to make a church service recipe - relationship is not rigid. Although these elements surely reflect the essentials of a dynamically expressed and vibrant relationship with God, they are not critical ingredients to bake into a mass produced product. Pattern is beautiful, moulds are repetitive. In fact, Jesus said that there are only two things on which hang all the law and the prophets: love God with all that you are, and love others as yourself. That's worth an eyebrow raising, sparkling eyed and open-mouthed expression! I know you left me standing there Out of the calm of the coldest air I don’t believe the words you said But I can’t find the words I want Oh, I can’t find the words I want If you were gone in another life I don’t believe I would just survive I could feel you next to me An escape from the world I’m in Oh, I’m afraid of the world I’m in One day I will see Heaven’s reach I’ll find the one who left me sleeping Every war was another seed That could feed every soul in need Oh, I’m worn by the war in me Somebody found me here Somebody held my breath Somebody saved me from the world you left If you’re gonna cry my tears If you’re gonna hold my breath If you’re gonna let me see the sun you set Oh, I am lost and found Oh, I am lost and found Somebody found me here Somebody held my breath Somebody saved me from the world you left If you’re gonna cry my tears If you’re gonna hold my breath If you’re gonna let me see the sun you set Oh, I am lost and found Oh, I am lost and found
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Why?
Probably the best therapy is to express yourself. Why do you think psychiatrists make you lie on the couch and talk, while all they do is murmur "hmmm", "uhuh", or "go on"? Archives
May 2017
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