“How many loved your moments of glad grace or loved your beauty with love false or true? But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you and loved the sorrows of your changing face.”
When I first found and wrote this bit of poetry from W.B. Yeats on the back of an old and favorite photo of my wife and me that I’d kept in my Bible for years after we’d wed and then gave it to my bride as a peace offering after some long-forgotten argument that we’d had, I thought that I was the man who is speaking to his beloved in that poem.
In the years since, considering all my failures to love her like this, to really love her in this way that she deserves, I now know that the man speaking this love to her must be Jesus.
“What if the crises in the church today are not because we don’t have the right doctrine, but because we have lost our imagination and wonder? What if we have lost sight of the ultimate blessing to have God’s face shine upon us?”
In Revelation 2:2-5 Jesus tells the church in Ephesus that He applauds their adherence to doctrine and their fight against evil but they have lost their first love and without that they are incomplete. They have become so legalistic that they no longer love Him or each other as they once did. Their time is not spent in awe of Him or caring for each other or their community. If they do not repent and return to what they first were they will loose their lampstand- their light- Jesus’s light. God’s face will not shine upon them.
Yes- we have lost our light, our wonder, our sight and many “churches” have lost their lampstands they just don’t realize it yet. But they will. Ephesus did not survive, their port is gone, they are just a pile of ruins in the Province of Izmir. Smyrna survived and is now known as Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey. Smyrna persevered, saved face, held on to their wonder and kept their lampstand.
I like that you said “in other’s face we find our own”. It is like listening with our eyes.
The other's face is really our first mirror. And the face of Christ is a mirror held up, showing us who we are in him. It is such a wonder to think about God's face shining upon us and what that means, isn't it? If we thought more about that, maybe we could view others this way—with God's face shining upon them.
Beautiful cover! I’m sure it is indicative of the beautiful writing we’ve come to expect from you, Aimee!
Being Asian, the phrase “Saving Face” resonates deeply with me. I’m also curious if you’ll also be engaging with Levinas’ Face of the Other … either way, can’t to read it!!
YES!!! I interact with Levinas a lot in the book, his work is so provocative! I talk a lot about the naked face, the face as benediction, and how theology begins in the face of the neighbor.
Ooooh! Awesome! So looking forward to reading this!
2 questions:
1) will the book be available for Kindle or will it only be in print?
2) I know some authors make their pre-publication drafts available to select readers to review on their blogs, podcasts, etc. Have you & your publisher considered this?
Yes, it will be available for Kindle, ebooks, and narrated by me for audio. I haven't gotten to the marketing plan yet but there will be advance reader copies for all that.
When it comes to secrets I finally came to grips with the truth I’ve known for decades: God’s knowledge of my failures, moral and otherwise, is complete. For a long time that left me with an odd mix of shame and gratitude. The older I’ve gotten, the more I’m just grateful. God loves me—the Spirit of Christ is already in me and I am presently seated with Jesus in the heavenly realms—when my life is fully exposed to him, raw as can be? And this is permanent? That’s pretty awesome.
It's a wonder to think about, Tim. I also think there are many secrets we keep from our own selves, because we just don't know what to do with them yet, about our fears, humiliations, desires, the ways we sabotage ourselves...so much work to be done there that is so freeing.
“How many loved your moments of glad grace or loved your beauty with love false or true? But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you and loved the sorrows of your changing face.”
When I first found and wrote this bit of poetry from W.B. Yeats on the back of an old and favorite photo of my wife and me that I’d kept in my Bible for years after we’d wed and then gave it to my bride as a peace offering after some long-forgotten argument that we’d had, I thought that I was the man who is speaking to his beloved in that poem.
In the years since, considering all my failures to love her like this, to really love her in this way that she deserves, I now know that the man speaking this love to her must be Jesus.
Wow, that is beautiful, thank you for sharing Majik!
I was thinking of how many times we speak of “face” or “faces” in our everyday phrases or poetry, and this memory came to mind.
I can’t hardly wait to read your new book.
“What if the crises in the church today are not because we don’t have the right doctrine, but because we have lost our imagination and wonder? What if we have lost sight of the ultimate blessing to have God’s face shine upon us?”
In Revelation 2:2-5 Jesus tells the church in Ephesus that He applauds their adherence to doctrine and their fight against evil but they have lost their first love and without that they are incomplete. They have become so legalistic that they no longer love Him or each other as they once did. Their time is not spent in awe of Him or caring for each other or their community. If they do not repent and return to what they first were they will loose their lampstand- their light- Jesus’s light. God’s face will not shine upon them.
Yes- we have lost our light, our wonder, our sight and many “churches” have lost their lampstands they just don’t realize it yet. But they will. Ephesus did not survive, their port is gone, they are just a pile of ruins in the Province of Izmir. Smyrna survived and is now known as Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey. Smyrna persevered, saved face, held on to their wonder and kept their lampstand.
I like that you said “in other’s face we find our own”. It is like listening with our eyes.
The other's face is really our first mirror. And the face of Christ is a mirror held up, showing us who we are in him. It is such a wonder to think about God's face shining upon us and what that means, isn't it? If we thought more about that, maybe we could view others this way—with God's face shining upon them.
Beautiful cover! I’m sure it is indicative of the beautiful writing we’ve come to expect from you, Aimee!
Being Asian, the phrase “Saving Face” resonates deeply with me. I’m also curious if you’ll also be engaging with Levinas’ Face of the Other … either way, can’t to read it!!
Paul
YES!!! I interact with Levinas a lot in the book, his work is so provocative! I talk a lot about the naked face, the face as benediction, and how theology begins in the face of the neighbor.
Ooooh! Awesome! So looking forward to reading this!
2 questions:
1) will the book be available for Kindle or will it only be in print?
2) I know some authors make their pre-publication drafts available to select readers to review on their blogs, podcasts, etc. Have you & your publisher considered this?
Thanks!
Yes, it will be available for Kindle, ebooks, and narrated by me for audio. I haven't gotten to the marketing plan yet but there will be advance reader copies for all that.
This looks amazing - can’t wait to read it!
When it comes to secrets I finally came to grips with the truth I’ve known for decades: God’s knowledge of my failures, moral and otherwise, is complete. For a long time that left me with an odd mix of shame and gratitude. The older I’ve gotten, the more I’m just grateful. God loves me—the Spirit of Christ is already in me and I am presently seated with Jesus in the heavenly realms—when my life is fully exposed to him, raw as can be? And this is permanent? That’s pretty awesome.
It's a wonder to think about, Tim. I also think there are many secrets we keep from our own selves, because we just don't know what to do with them yet, about our fears, humiliations, desires, the ways we sabotage ourselves...so much work to be done there that is so freeing.
Congratulations! I’m intrigued and looking forward to its full release.
Congratulations! Having a cover you're in love with is SO important.
It really is, thank you Dorothy!