Facing Up to God

christ-fiery-eyeI have been asked to write further on the “theology of the face.” It is surprisingly neglected in many parts of the Christian world – and though it is not often discussed within Orthodoxy – it is nevertheless deeply at the heart of Orthodox devotion.

Nothing in the Old Testament more clearly reveals the personhood of God than the references to His face. Man is described as created “in the image and likeness” of God. But God is revealed by reference to His face. To speak with God “face to face” is to speak with God “in person.” But the person of God is wholly other: “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (Exo 33:20 NKJ).

It is not until the coming of Christ that the true personhood of God is made fully known. And Christ reveals that personhood in the most shocking language possible: He who has seen Me has seen the Father;  (Jn 14:9 NKJ). In John 6, this declaration is tied directly to the classical language concerning the face of God in Exodus: “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.”(Jn 6:46 NKJ)

The God who cannot be seen, has been seen by the Son. And the Son shows that He is from the Father because to see the Son, is to see the Father. Christ the Son of the Father, reveals the face of God. To see Christ is to see God.

There is an additional consideration that I would add, and this is the matter of the eyes themselves. Christ speaks about the “eye being single or whole” and warns about an eye with a “log” in it (as opposed to a “speck”). The “eye is the light of the body,” He says. It is not simply that we behold Him with an unveiled face, or that we see one another, but to see Him or another in a truly personal manner, requires a singularity and clarity of vision. There is a profound connection between the eye and the heart.

The heart itself is a mysterious matter in Orthodox thought. It is sometimes used as a term for the deepest part of the self, and may be filled with good things or bad:

The heart itself is but a small vessel, yet dragons are there, and there are also lions; there are poisonous beasts and all the treasures of evil. But there too is God, the angels, the life and the kingdom, the light and the apostles, the heavenly cities and the treasuries of grace—all things are there. (St. Macarius, H.43.7)

At other times the heart is used in a manner that equates it with the Secret Place of the Most High, in which dwells only good things.

It is the former meaning that is reflected in the sayings about the eye. For it is the heart that is being referenced in the eye (the prior verse makes mention of the singularity of the heart):

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Mat 6:19-21 NKJ)

A heart divided, turned aside towards evil, fills the body with darkness. It “darkens” the face as well.

In the art of icon painting, the last colors added to the icon are the “lights.” These are patches of white or gold that mark the brightness of spiritual being. Such lights are utterly absent in the faces of the demons or of the damned (cf. Judas). Such lights are not meant to create the illusion of depth. There are no shadows in the faces of an icon. Rather the light is the transfiguring light of God, reflected in the faces of those who now behold His face.

I close these thoughts by returning to the heart. In the face of an icon (and often in the face of any person) there is a revelation of the heart. The truth of the person, what truly lies within them, is shown forth in the face. Though this is an artistic technique, it is reflective of reality. Our own faces reveal the heart to those who can read them (and we all do to some extent). Our behavior with our own faces should be an indication of our inner state. Our shame, a divided heart, many states of the soul are revealed in what we do with our faces.

To gaze steadfastly at God is a rare thing. Our self-awareness and our awareness of sin make us look away. Only the steady gaze of God, unrelenting in its forgiveness, could give the courage to turn our faces back to Him. From glory to glory, our faces can come to resemble the holy icons, who behold Him without shame or fear.

About Fr. Stephen Freeman

Fr. Stephen is a retired Archpriest of the Orthodox Church in America, Pastor Emeritus of St. Anne Orthodox Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He is also author of Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe, and Face to Face: Knowing God Beyond Our Shame, as well as the Glory to God podcast series on Ancient Faith Radio.



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9 responses to “Facing Up to God”

  1. […] to glory, our faces can come to resemble the holy icons, who behold Him without shame or fear. Facing Up to God*|*Glory to God for All Things __________________ All quotes are from the Alcoholics Anonymous.1st Edition "Lord, take me […]

  2. chuck Avatar
    chuck

    Father bless! What a blessing this blog is…Your writings always clarify and bring insight to things I have been pondering. Tonight my heart soars and after reading this perhaps my nous is a tad clearer. You are a gift from God Many years

  3. kelly Avatar
    kelly

    Fr. Stephen,
    Thank you for this post. It has helped my understanding of the subject. I now understand how it is that I’ve seen Heaven in my infants’ faces. It is the purity, simplicity, and joy of their hearts that is written on their faces. Combining this with the luminosity of brand new skin…well, nothing quite compares. I’ve often thought about how these characteristics would appear on the adult God/Man’s face.

  4. drewster2000 Avatar
    drewster2000

    I’m reminded of a scene from “The Secret Garden” where the little girl tells a story about a man who, when you looked down his throat, you could see the whole universe.

    And also of a time years ago when I was taking my turn in the church nursery. I had the experience of lifting a little girl up over my head and then momentarily getting lost in her eyes. Her soul was so open that I felt like I could easily fall in if I didn’t break eye contact soon.

    Of course God is that times a million, but we are definitely made in His image and contain a universe inside us, so to speak. And the face is the gateway. So much potential for communion – and so precious….

  5. […] Facing Up to God (glory2godforallthings.com) […]

  6. mourad Avatar

    Dear Father;
    I just want to say that “Eyes” have very special place in Coptic Iconography. Coptics are the descendants of Pharaohs and they were influenced by the Pharaonic art. Pharaohs used to draw and carve eyes very big and wide, proud and may be little scary. They also carved a big eye on the top of the of their mummies’ coffins , on the side of the top left part, that the sole will come to the mummy back through this eye. This is the symbol of life coming back to death, this is the window to eternal heaven “book of dead 1500 BC”!.

    An important link between Pharaohs and Coptic’s era are the Fayoum faces early first century ( https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=fayoum+faces&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=wx9-UojABoejhgeSpIGIBg&ved=0CC0QsAQ&biw=1360&bih=653) we can here see difference in the ” Eyes”. They still wide and bright but humble, less proud and less scary. This is the time when Christianity enlightened the hearts of the Pharaohs and changed them towards eternity.
    The Coptic art draws eye wide as symbol of enlightenment but now looking to the heart, to the inside. A good example of that Theotokos icon. She is looking to her internal glory, the enlightened sole glory sure is reflected on her eyes.

  7. claire Avatar
    claire

    “The human face is the ultimate frontier between silence and speech…Silence is like one of the organs of the human face. Not only the eyes and mouth and brow are in the human face, but silence is there as well. It is everywhere in the face; it is the foundation of every part…If there is no silence in the face, then the word is no longer covered by the silence, before it comes out of the mouth…The whole face is nothing but a race between the various parts to see which can shout the loudest.” Max Picard, THE WORLD OF SILENCE

  8. Дејан Avatar
    Дејан

    In Chapter XXXI of “Prayers by the Lake” by St. Nicholai of Zicha, there are many poetic references to the ontological reality of the Face of God. Here is part of it:

    Your face pours beauty over all creation. The universe swims in Your beauty as a boat swims in the sea.

    And when You bend over cold ashes, the ashes are transfigured and receive a face.

    Bring my heart to its senses, my Lord, so that it may not be captivated by mortal beauty but by You, my Immortal Beauty.

    O my only Beauty!

    Allow me to see Your Face, just more and more–of Your Face.

    Later on in chapter L, there is a reference to the face of the soul…

    Behold, I see within you, my soul, a tiny nook, like a candle-illumined cave in a massive mountain overladen with darkness. The more deeply I peer into the light concealed within you, the more it seems to me to resemble your virginal beauty, your pristine beauty, my soul. Since my peering the dim light has been growing brighter, and more and more clearly one can distinguish in it the wondrous face of a virgin – ­like a sunbeam arrayed in moonlight.

  9. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    Wonderful – Prayers by the Lake was one of the first things that drew me to Orthodoxy!

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