Face

...but my face shall not be seen.

 - From Exodus 33

Moses had spent a lot of time with The Lord. They had gotten quite familiar with one another. I like to think Moses was getting tutelage in Truth, and God's Plan, or Word. Like very few people in history, he was shown secrets that most could not handle. 

And it's obvious that humanity does not do well with too much knowledge. Look how we have responded to the Internet, and Social Media! We're arrogant, and childish, enough, as it is! When we think we actually have knowledge, or facts, or "Science" on our side, it's just simply too much!

But Moses could handle it. It is such a rare quality in humanity - - - being given fundamental truth directly from the the Mouth of God, and not being destroyed by it. 

There was one thing Moses was not able to take: looking God squarely in the face. God showed every perspective of Himself to Moses. But as His face passed by, The Lord hid his beloved friend in a cave, and covered the opening, so that he would not be harmed.

But you may be thinking: "Couldn't God have just shown Moses His face, and then healed him if he were damaged?" Yes, He could have. But the result would no longer be Authentic Moses. The path to spiritual growth, and the evolution to immortality, is a careful process. God first plans, then executes, then looks at the result, then changes things around and re-plans, and then starts all over again. He was the first TQM engineer in history. He improves us, one step at a time.

But it's this aspect of God's face that interests me today. Your face is the most critical part of your appearance to others. Stephen Foster wrote "In the eye abides the heard." We learn so much from each other's faces. We trust, we doubt, we smile, we cry. We even nod the entire head in different ways, to communicate. I'll bet that 90% of what makes us distinct, or more, is in the face. 

And as Archie Woods has pointed out: our face emits light. There is primal energy going forth from our faces. When you look at someone, you're not just gathering information via your eyes - - - you're also transmitting something to that other person that we do not fully understand. Even when someone is looking away from you, or shifting their eyes in another direction, they are sending you energy of one form or another. 

Moses did not see God's face. The visage of the Eternal: the light, the electricity, the full awareness of Everything that it would (probably) convey . . . just because of "one look" ... we just can't take it. 

Doris Troy's song, "Just One Look," had more meaning than we know!

But rather than cover His face from Moses, God moved Moses away from having a view of it. 

In the end, God wants us to see Him, and each other, as He, and we, really are. He wants our faces, and in fact, our full being, to be on full display to others. He designed us! We are "good" and beautiful! I believe that God intends for us to just be who we are . . . as evidenced by the way we look at our most natural state (yes, clothed of course - - - except for certain relationships set aside for full knowledge of each other). And He wants us to see as we are seen, to know as we are known. And to be okay with it. Covering, or altering, our appearance, is not in keeping with trusting God. It is not spiritual. It is not organic. 

God did not cover nor change His face, or appearance, nor basic qualities, for Moses' benefit. 

Neither should we.