For Wilshire Baptist Church
You can learn a lot when you look into another person’s face. You can learn even more when you have a razor in your hand.
Dad was in the hospital for a week and now is in rehab after breaking his leg. He’s always been a stickler about his appearance, so when he hadn’t shaved in several days, I took my electric razor and offered to do the job for him. He’s been a blade man all his life, and in fact when I was in high school or college and someone gave him an electric razor, he tried it briefly but rejected it and I took it. That being the case, I wasn’t sure if he would let me do it but he said yes.
Nobody can shave you as well as you can, because nobody knows your own face like you do. So, as I sat on the edge of the bed, I tried to learn his face as I rolled the triple-head Norelco up and down and from side to side. I moved up under the strong nose that has a slight dent from a skin cancer removed years ago; under the sideburns that once were sharp and black and now are wispy and gray; down into the vertical lines on either side of his mouth that he inherited from his father; across the mole on his cheek that’s always been there and the growing constellation of dark spots that my dermatologist generously calls wisdom spots; and up under his chin and down his neck that was once tight and firm but now is pleated like a drapery.
While the changes are dramatic, I still saw the face that I looked up at and trusted when he would give me a bath or play tickle with me on the den floor. I saw the face I feared but respected when I broke a gallon jug of milk on the hard linoleum and later when I came home too late from a date. I saw the profile that I watched with admiration as he rose with the deacons in church to serve communion. I saw the eyes that have wept in the midst of tragedy and still twinkle when he says something outrageous or just silly. I saw the mouth that never speaks too harshly, always speaks the truth, and is still quick with a compliment or an encouragement.
We often talk about how important it is to walk in another person’s shoes to understand their situation and their needs. That’s true, but you may learn more by looking into their face. That’s where the story of their life really can be read. That’s where you learn who they are.