Have You Seen Her?

I can see her face everywhere I go....-The Chi-Lites


A guilty pleasure of mine is the film, sex, lies and videotape. In it, a young man is reduced to seeking pleasure in the viewing of videotaped conversations he has had with various young women.

Implied throughout, but never explicitly stated, is the premise that this is his penance for his misuse, ill-use, and objectification of the women with whom he has had relationships.

The fascination of the camera with their faces as they speak represents his own fascination (and the viewer's). The beauty of these women (and they are beautiful) lies especially in the movement of their faces as they speak.

There is truth in this. The glance flickers upward to meet mine  then is cast quickly downward, eyelids lowered demurely. The expression of the mouth is both endearing and enlightening.

When I think of people I have known, my mind's eye recalls their faces animated by conversation.

Here is a question then. What about the one God has given you? Though she is there, each and every day, can you close your eyes and see her face? Do you watch her as she talks? This face that should be so familiar to you, does it still attract your attention as expressions ripple across it?

Perhaps familiarity has not bred contempt, so much, as a lack of appreciation for the uniqueness of the individual seated across from you at the breakfast table.

I have found, since my hearing has declined, that I much prefer to look into someone's face when I converse with them. Look at it like this: God has blessed me by forcing me to focus once more on the face of the one speaking to me.

It seems that the cares and the pain of living can cause us to withdraw, if we are not careful, bit-by-bit to within ourselves.

So I must be deliberate to revel in the small (oftentimes overlooked) pleasures. I am not doing penance for the sins of my past, but enjoying what God hath wrought.

Have you seen her lately?