The other day, I unearthed a few of my very old sketch books to look at some of my pencil sketches of
faces from magazines and photographs (sketches pictured below). A lot of these images I drew were
from make up commercials and fashion shows of that time. Faces that were photographed to hit just the right angle and amount of light and color to bring out the model's perceived best features. A look that maybe the target audience would aspire to emulate.
I've spent a lot of time spent doodling and practicing faces till I felt I got it reasonably right. I haven't sketched faces in a long time, but I recall that the eyes are the hardest to master. Get the light in the eyes wrong, and you probably have to start over. The closer you look at a face, it's the light in the eyes that tell you whether the person in the picture is really exuding inner rest and confidence. It's something that's
inside out, not the other way around.
There's a confidence and freedom that places you in that wide space that gives you a radiance as you turn your gaze to the Source. A radiance that can't be taken away as you continue to fix your gaze on the Only One that can put that radiance there. The One who can give you a face that is free of shame. A face that
As we look to bring to light women and children trapped in slavery and support efforts to rescue, rehabilitate and provide dignified jobs for survivors and those at risk, let's also remember to share the true Source of freedom with them. So that, they too, can lift their faces without shame, radiant, as they look to the One who frees them, inside out. The One who is the eternal source of our radiance, as we continue to gaze at His face. The Face of the One who only gets more beautiful with each look. The Face we will one day look into for eternity.
"Those who look to Him are radiant, their faces are never covered with shame." Psalm 34:5
