Dusty Holy Family
We have two "Holy Family" statues, both depicting the scene when Joseph takes Mary and Jesus to Egypt, fleeing the threat of King Herod. Both were given to us at different times in our lives (though both were from the same person) and both are beautiful in their own way. They have had prominent places of display in our home. Now, however, they are safely stowed in boxes as we prepare to move.
Yesterday, I picked one of the statuettes up off the piano and prepared to put it in its styrofoam-lined box and just before I wrapped it in plastic, I glanced at Jesus' face.
Or what I could see of Jesus' face.
There, swaddled in Mary's arms, was a tiny face peeking out, surrounded by the appearance of a warm garment...and lots and lots of dust. Jesus' face was nearly obscured by dust that had accumulated over the last ten years.
Now, before you get the wrong idea, we do clean our house and we do dust! But the artwork doesn't get a lot of attention. We've found accumulations of dust on the top of picture frames that hang on the wall and a few other places...places we normally don't see or, really, don't pay a whole lot of attention to.
Places like Jesus' face.
Well, Jesus' face on the statue.
But it got me to wondering how often we, as followers of Jesus, forget to look at him, forget to pay attention to him, forget to follow close enough that we can really see him. Do we let other things—dust—get in the way of seeing Jesus' face?
Things like busy-ness, activities, offers we just can't refuse, mixed-up priorities, technology and entertainment, and so on. Things that get in the way. Things that, in the end, will be nothing but dust. Things that simply will not matter.
Dust.
As I carefully cleaned Jesus' face off—and also cleaned up the rest of his family before packing them for the move—not only did I make a commitment to pay better attention to the beautiful artwork that has been given to us, to take better care of it, but also to not allow dusty things to obscure my view of the real Jesus.
Lord, let nothing come between you and me. Help me to see your face clearly always.
Yesterday, I picked one of the statuettes up off the piano and prepared to put it in its styrofoam-lined box and just before I wrapped it in plastic, I glanced at Jesus' face.
Or what I could see of Jesus' face.
There, swaddled in Mary's arms, was a tiny face peeking out, surrounded by the appearance of a warm garment...and lots and lots of dust. Jesus' face was nearly obscured by dust that had accumulated over the last ten years.
Now, before you get the wrong idea, we do clean our house and we do dust! But the artwork doesn't get a lot of attention. We've found accumulations of dust on the top of picture frames that hang on the wall and a few other places...places we normally don't see or, really, don't pay a whole lot of attention to.
Places like Jesus' face.
Well, Jesus' face on the statue.
But it got me to wondering how often we, as followers of Jesus, forget to look at him, forget to pay attention to him, forget to follow close enough that we can really see him. Do we let other things—dust—get in the way of seeing Jesus' face?
Things like busy-ness, activities, offers we just can't refuse, mixed-up priorities, technology and entertainment, and so on. Things that get in the way. Things that, in the end, will be nothing but dust. Things that simply will not matter.
Dust.
As I carefully cleaned Jesus' face off—and also cleaned up the rest of his family before packing them for the move—not only did I make a commitment to pay better attention to the beautiful artwork that has been given to us, to take better care of it, but also to not allow dusty things to obscure my view of the real Jesus.
Lord, let nothing come between you and me. Help me to see your face clearly always.
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