Monthly Archives: March 2023

I Can’t See My Face!

The other morning, our four-year-old emphatically observed:

“Did you know that I can’t see my face?!?”

And he is right!  Without a mirror (or the like), one cannot see the non-verbal cues that their face communicates.

This reality is kind of a bummer, too, since the face gives off a huge amount of information, and we have evolved to subconsciously interpret even the smallest, quickest emotion on the face of another.

So, what do you hope to unconsciously communicate?

The answer may represent yet another reason for committing to a slower, simpler life and to mindfully accept what we feel when we feel it.

Because I can’t see my face, but everyone else can.

Contribution, the Criterion

Foreign Service families move countries every few years, so that means we have to find a new faith community quite often.

Upon moving to a new country, one FS family we know asks these questions of a new faith community that they enter:  

Is this a place where I can contribute?  Is this a place where I can pour out my love, generosity, and experience? 

If “yes,” they dig in and make it their home.  If “no,” they move on and look for another.

Contribution is their criterion.

So obviously there is more to a strong faith community than that… but I would be willing to bet that this “more” would be there in a community strong enough that it seeks to involve everyone in a robust contribution party. 

I love this family’s mindset and feel appropriately challenged by it.  It is a proper antidote to how many, especially Catholics, have been habituated to engage (or not) in the church.

We are creators of culture, not merely consumers of it.

Jack Sparrow’s Indignation

Remember that moment in Pirates of the Caribbean where Jack Sparrow finds himself on a different ship with cannons firing on his beloved Black Pearl? 

“Stop blowing holes in my ship!” he wildly protests.

I think that we blow holes in our ship – more than we are aware or would like to admit.

In families, when we harbor the grudge or the old way of being…

In the church, when we cling to “commentary” instead of weaving communities and offering contribution… when we polish a tiny idol rather than pray for the Mystery…

And on the earth, when we do not acknowledge what is happening and imagine a new way forward together.

For Lent, let’s give up blowing holes in our ships.

The Availability of Responsibility

Lots of things in life are scarce.

Opportunities to take responsibility are not among them.

Responsibility for one’s actions or anger or aloofness…

Or for what is happening to the earth…

Or for a languishing ministry at church, a weak workplace culture, that pile of dishes…

Or (and perhaps most importantly) for engaging that person who needs to be seen as they are…

Chances to take responsibility abound.

The opportunity to say “I’m here. How can I help?” is a grace and a gift.