“A WELCOMING FACE”
A twelve-step friend, Sean, gave me a wonderful word of encouragement after the meeting this past Saturday. He said to me, “You are always smiling.”
“Well,” I replied, “I’m not sure about that, but thanks!” Then I added, “I don’t think of myself as having a very nice smile. I look in the mirror and frown. That, of course, makes me look even older and uglier. Maybe I just need to stop looking in the mirror.”
And then, Sean said, “Well, I think you have a very welcoming face!”
Oh, my—“a welcoming face”! I had never heard that expression before!
It’s a good expression, isn’t it? I hope that Sean is right about me. I certainly want him to be right.
Of course, I don’t always have a welcoming face. Sometimes my face is harsh or judgmental or just plain closed off. My face, like the rest of me, is a work in progress. Still, I am profoundly grateful that someone experiences my face as welcoming.
So, how does a person cultivate a welcoming face?
Let me ask you a simpler question: How does a baby learn to smile? I suppose that the answer is that a baby learns to smile by watching others smile. And, of course, it is easy to smile at a baby, isn’t it?
Perhaps I’ve learned to have a welcoming face because others have given me their own welcoming faces. Some, particularly my wife, have done this in spite of the fact that I have so frequently been frightfully cruel to them in the past. A welcoming face is a gift that has been given to me by others, before I could give it to others.
Ultimately, I believe that God has the most welcoming face in the universe. Perhaps that is what is meant by the expression in Numbers 6:25. As part of the priestly blessing, Aaron and his descendants are told that they are to say to the Israelites, “May the LORD make his face shine on you.” Perhaps God’s “shining face” is another way of speaking of God’s welcoming face.
But please notice an aspect of this that I frequently forget: The reference to the LORD’s welcoming face is immediately followed by the blessing of God’s grace.
God does not have a welcoming heart and face because we are so wonderful. God has a welcoming heart and face because God is so wonderful.
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