In 1990, our then Pastor gave a sermon depicting the many faces of Christ. It was very interesting, and gave us another way of looking at Jesus. The lady sitting beside me gave me an elbow poke and whispered, “You could write a poem about this.” I am quite susceptible to the power of suggestion when it comes to writing anything and immediately thought, hmmm, I wonder…
And so, I came home, sat down with pen and paper and came up with this:
THE FACE
Evil, cruel, hardened,
set in grimaced scorn.
Flattened nose,
upslanted eyes,
with pointed ears was born.
Hollowed cheeks,
haunted eyes,
disease its toll has taken.
Wasted skin, hungered, thin,
in poverty, forsaken.
Criminal,
Down Syndrome child,
Aids victim,
Poor man’s tryst,
Look!
And then, please look again…
and see the face of Christ.
©1990
I gave a copy to the lady who poked me, and said, “Here you go, Christine, this is for you.” She took one look at the first few words and said, “Oh, I don’t want to read this!” But she did, and I do believe still has the poem in her possession all these years later.
As for me, that sermon and ensuing poem gave me the eyes to see all of God’s people in a whole new Face.
My Precious Life 
Was I the Christine that poked you? If so thank you for reminding me. I should look for my copy of the poem. I am glad you blogged it for us. So true. First impressions are often so wrong. I have found that out many times in my life. I know a woman whose looks,” a little simple,” as we used to say but when she prays out loud she is better than many preachers. On the other side of the coin, I had a Grade six class once. They went to a new school for Grade seven. I used to say to them, “When you stand up straight and look your Grade seven teachers in the eye, it will take them to Christmas to find out how stupid you are! Christine 416-438-4540 64 Meldazy Drive, Toronto, On., M1P 4G1 >
Yes, Christine, you are the Christine! 🙂