A phrase came to mind this thanksgiving while my grandchildren were wearing Groucho Marks style nose & glasses given to them by “Babaweir”: my mom, their great grandmother. The phrase is the title to a book by C. S. Lewis: Till We Have Faces. Having nothing to do with children running around with fake noses connected to cheap plastic glass frames, it was a surprise; bursting into my consciousness and not fading away like some thoughts.
It may have been percolating deep down somewhere within me for some time, and for reasons at that moment I couldn’t understand, “Till We Have Faces” erupted like a geyser at Yellowstone. But these words did not fade away like steam from those geysers. Instead they became something I knew I needed to use. It was then that a photograph I had taken while walking the streets in Washington DC came to mind. A photograph taken with the camera hanging from the neck strap, waist high, and never stopping. I just took the photo while in motion crossing the street, surrounded by many pedestrians. When I got back home I almost deleted the digital image from my camera, but something gnawed at me to keep it.
Over two years have gone by. I have worked on this photo on and off never quite happy with the results. It never seemed finished. One rendition I titled “Tangled Up In Blue” and another “Electric Avenue”. It does seem like I favor titles of other artist’s works and I often do this as a way to draw the viewer in even. So now I considered the title “Till We Have Faces” and no the photograph wasn’t suddenly complete, but I did envision what was needed to make it complete.
Till We Have Faces comes from a line in C S Lewis’ book that says “How can they (the gods) see us face to face till we have faces?” While working on the photograph, a final time I hope, I started to think that the gods, or God already sees us and the face we have. So our problem is not being seen but rather being able to see who we are by knowing what God sees. Our face represents our completeness. The people in this photograph do not have faces: they do not see what God sees. I hope this comes across when you see this photograph; and so much more.
I am posting this as a beginning for an Advent meditation. For those who consider Advent this may seem like an odd post but I consider it where we must begin. We must discover who we are till we have faces. Then we can see the journey before us. To see additional photographs in the series click here.
Leave a reply