The Church Face | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: The Church Face | Previous Challenge Entry
By R B
11/17/06
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The Church Face

Sigmund the name I gave to my “MWP” paperclip icon. Somehow, he just sits there I think to myself; what a wonderful gem, “forgive the pun,” he is very helpful. To be honest I feel as if Sigmund was a parent, looking over my shoulders as I wrote. The stress of it all, he stares at me with wonderful expressions, soon the foot tapping will begin as the pressure builds for me to write. I want to throw a ball or a Frisbee and say go fetch, just to have him look the other way even for a moment, but are you allowed to tell a parent to go fetch? Siggy gives you those wonder filled expressions as you begin to type, sometimes I feel he is just going to snatch my work up and throw it away. Now feeling a bit like a schoolboy, I might not be able to go out and play or grounded if I cannot get this work done. He gives the eyebrow movement, the blink, I glance over at him and he is just staring back at me; how many faces does this paperclip have? I just want to throw a paperclip at him!

I met an artist one day a lady and a parent of two children. She in her mid- to late fifties was humming through a beautiful smile. She brought both her children up in a church environment; both moved out of town and began new families. They on occasion would visit. There was an excitement about her, to me best described magnetism, I was just drawn to her. The kind of person you felt well, comfortable around and could talk with about most anything. She was very attentive and well spoken. I met her one-day out walking my dog and she was pruning back her prize roses. I said, a casual good morning and she retorted, “in kind,” we introduced each other, her name is Beth; I thought what a beautiful name. That is when I noticed all the joy that seemed to reverberate from her; it would not have bothered me so much, but it was addictive soon my dreary dog walk routine was, how should I say this, fun!

Beth told me she was a Greeter at her church and that God had called her to do this; believe me when I say, God made a great choice in hiring her for that position. She went on to say, the essentials of being a Greeter is to welcome people to the house of the Lord and remembering their names when you see them next. You see, feeling important is a wonderful and powerful emotion and I have a gift for remembering faces, glory to God. Beth painted ceramic faces and invited me in to see them; that would be great Beth but I must get Buster home. That’s ok you can tie him to the clothesline pole.

Everything to Beth was an adventure; the faces were beautiful, intricate, and detailed, there were six completed faces hanging upon her wall all with different emotions. Expressions of joy, laughter, sadness, others had feathers, Beth doted over them like a proud parent. Not noticing there was an unfinished face, she called “The Church Face” lying on her worktable. I asked about the faces is there one for each day of the week? she replied! No Russ, they symbolize different faces Christians sometime put on everyday. These are faces they hide behind never knowing they are allowed to show emotion. Nobody likes to be ridiculed or talked about, some days we even walk with a skip in our step beaming about life. Christians have everyday problems like anyone else, and they put on these facades as if everything is beautiful, like my roses; when in fact they are just putting on a new face, the face that they believe suits the occasion. I asked, what about the Church Face what does it represent? Well, as a parent of two however difficult the week has been, my husband and I dawned that mask, the “important” mask; we as parents needed to guide our children towards the Lord, they needed mentors sitting beside them at church hanging on every word. After service the Church Face stayed on, he still watch football and I usually went out to my roses, but our children saw the joy of the Lord in our Church Face, not for one day but the whole weak.

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