Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Faces in my Passport

I have to renew my passport this year – in fact, I need to do it soon –like this week!

I’ve had this passport for 10 years!

It is the second passport I’ve had in my lifetime, and at one point I had to get extra pages added to it- and just about all of those have been used.

It contains stamps from 12 countries.  It holds visas to 7 countries, though most are now expired.

But besides all that ink, my passport holds memories.

It contains glimpses of unique experiences.

It reveals the steps of many journeys.

But most of all, each circular or square entry stamp represents various faces of real people.


Faces…

Faces of dark-haired children playing in the streets, or the fields in villages where there are no streets.
Faces that hold the deepest eyes you’ve ever looked into.
Faces that beg you to stay.
Faces unsure of your presence.
Faces that ask questions about life and death, and the purpose of both.
Faces that are skeptical about the Truth, because they have seen and heard so much.
Faces that yearn for the Truth because they have seen and heard so much.
Faces that fear so much, and trust so little.
Faces framed in multi-colored fabric.
Faces that exude difficult, yet joyful Stories of God’s faithfulness over the years.
Faces that have yet to experience that joy.
Faces hidden by blue burqas.
Faces that don’t know how to smile.
Faces covered in dirt.
Faces stained with tears.

Faces that cannot be forgotten.

As I fill out the form and send in my old passport to get a renewed one, I think about these faces.

I wonder about which ones I will see or won’t see again either in this lifetime, or the next.

I wonder about the new faces that I’ll meet in the coming years.

Tonight, I ask God to “be gracious to us, and bless us, and make His face shine on all of these faces, so that His ways may be known on earth, hat His salvation may be known among all nations.” ~ Psalm 67:1-2 

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