by Rev Robert A Wendel
The Lord make His face shine upon the, and be gracious unto thee. Numbers 6:25
A six-ton block of Carrara marble, from Mount Altissimo in Italy, stands in Christus Gardens in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Carved within the flecked marble is a concave sculpture of the face of Christ. (A concave sculpture looks as though the image has been pressed into the marble, like a handprint pressed into wet cement.) Beneath the face, these words have been carved: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place keeping watch upon the evil and the good.”
As you move to the left of the sculpture, and then to the right, you can understand why the artist had chosen those words. Christ’s whole face seems to move with you. Not just His eyes, but His entire face seems to move with you, wherever you go. Even though it is an optical illusion, it seems to fitting that a sculpture of Christ should possess such a mystical quality.
As I look at my own life, I wonder if I have done as good a job as the Italian artist. I have attempted to carve the face of God’s Son into my humanity, but what kind of face have I carved? How do others see Christ in me? The sculpture has given me something to strive for. I pray that Christ’s image is pressed deeply into me, in a concave fashion, so that when others move to the left of me or to the right, they will see Christ turn and gaze out upon them. . . . . from all angles of my life.
Dear Father, help us to carve the face of Your Son within our hearts. And may His face have the freedom to turn loving toward others—no matter where they walk. Amen.
“The Resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over, no matter what my circumstances.” –Robert Flatt