A Master's Mouldings

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Friday, June 20, 2008

Angel Facies

yeah i shd hv been here earlier, heh since sch's out for almost 3 wks & starting again in 2 days' time! (takes a huge swallow&tries to brace herself)

well BUT it has been one of the REAL hols where i din need to do anytg related to medicine at all: not studying, revising etc. but really holidaying n resting, catchin up with pp long-forsaken.

but still more nocturnal than diurnal (like how YY's spending her break now before she begins work as a full-fledged pro)

many thots since this year began, esp with the clinical postings covered this yr.. wat with Emer Med and Paeds, these 2 which truly underline, bold, & italicise the fragility of life. But because life is fragile, life is unpredictable, therein lies HOPE.

the title of this post is not misspelled. no, if u go google the word 'facies', ur returns will be many more than u expect. but the 'facies' i use here has no reference to the word coined by Swiss geologist Amanz Gressly which simply defined:

'A facies is a body of rock with specified characteristics... A facies should ideally be a distinctive rock that forms under certain conditions of sedimentation, reflecting a particular process or environment.'

the term 'facies' in medicine-The appearance or expression of the face, especially when typical of a certain disorder or disease.

and so in my time around the wards/clinics/books the terms tt are used include:

-Moon Facies

Roundness of the face due to increased fat deposition laterally seen in patients with hyperadrenocorticalism, either of endogenous (e.g., cushing's disease) or exogenous origin, such as the use of cortisone-like drugs as therapy.

-Hippocratic Facies

the face as it appears near death and in some debilitating conditions marked by sunken eyes and temples, pinched nose, and tense hard skin -- called also facies Hippocratica

-Adenoid Facies

The appearance in children with adenoid hypertrophy, associated with a pinched nose and an open mouth.

-Thalassemic Facies/Chipmunk Facies
Marked frontal bossing and marked overgrowth of the forehead and cheek bones to produce the typical thalassemic facies in those with thalessemia-major.

-Cherubic Facies
The characteristic childlike facies seen in cherubism; also seen in glycogenosis, particularly type II. Do read about this lady Vicky Lucas. Never take someone at face-value.

Cherubims are angels mentioned in the bible, and in Renaissance times, largely illustrated in art masterpieces. Here look at Raphael Sanzio's Cherubs in Sistine Madonna:

So many different "facies", yet used in a syndromic manner.
To describe ppl with disorders.
To classify abnormality.
To delineate differences.
Are we not already dichotomised enough?
Are we not already split enough by geographical borders?
So would u look at someone and relate it to a "facies"?
Or would you look at someone as they are- people?

I was inspired while teaching the Teens Sunday School about the great Bible evangelists. In closer reading of Stephen, the 1st Christian martyr stoned to death, was described as having "the face of an angel". Stephen, one of the 1st 7 appointed deacons delivered the longest sermon in the bible in front of a crowd who persecuted him.

(Acts 6:10) but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.
(Acts 6:15) All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
But in the end, after his delivery out of a love for God and men, recounting the wonders of God since their very beginnings, they stoned him to death.
(Acts 7:59-60) While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Here was a man of Angel Facies, who preached in love, and forgave because of love, because he first tasted what LOVE is.

Cherubic Facies being the closest to "Angel Facies", when i searched the net for "Angel Facies" only 2 hits came back. of which one i presume was meant to be spelled as "angel faces east".
the other one tho is interesting to note: a photo!

Girls in First Communion Dresses

Photographer D. Schwarz in Jevíčko (Bohemia, Czechia). Cabinet card circa 1910
yup someone commented they had angel facies.

When we consider every life, every one is beautiful. Looking in and up. That's how we look at people, i remember my Lit teacher once told me.

The people, they saw the face of an angel- Stephen. But they did not look in and up, they did not see the beautiful soul of a an ordinary man who loved them because he was first loved. Tho he be the first Christian martyr, he beheld the glory of God beyond beholding the physical pain inflicted upon him.

The people, they saw red. Not the redness of the blood of Christ which bled for them to bring them unto eternity. They saw the redness of fury and anger because Stephen spoke the truth. i dont know what Stephen saw as he looked at the faces of anger surrounding him. they were definitely not mirrors of his own angelic facies.

Rembrandt's "The Stoning of Stephen" from the year 1625

But I believe Stephen saw something more.

(Acts 7:55-56) But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

As he beheld the glory of God, he saw something too, which I would like to use this line from the musical Les Miserables "To Love Another Person Is To See The Face Of God". i only just recently heard this line from playing the soundtrack at home while busying myself with packing. again and again i returned to this track, almost the last song sung by Jean Valjean.

And each time i heard it, it drew tears from me, it shook me from within.

Yes, clearly, as Stephen preached and was stoned, as he gazed at every angry face, every face blackened with anger, every face flushed, every face hostile, every face scowling-- he saw the face of God. God, who created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27) And God is Love. (1 John 4:17)

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:12) To Love Another Person Is To See The Face Of God. the comment in the hyperlinked article cannot be more true: to see the face of God in the unloved and the unlovable is more likely to advance our respective journeys to the Light.

How many unloved have we met? How many unlovable have we labelled? How many because they have no angelic facies, because they rubbed off unlovable 1st impressions, henceforth we ignore or detest or gossip about?

Paul, who witnessed Stephen's stoning, giving approval to his death (Acts 8:1), but later came to know God, speaks clearly in 1 Corinthians 13:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

“When we see the face of God we shall know that we have always known it. He has been a party to, has made, sustained and moved moment by moment within, all our earthly experiences of innocent love.”-C.S. Lewis

Facies. Faces. Facades.

Easy to see. Easy to label. Easy to link & hyperlink & hyper-hyperlink.

But, do we see the ones within? Look in and up. Before u create the hyperlinks, see the One.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8) To see the face of God, first purify our hearts from prejudices, hatred, easy judgements. Cleansed with hyssop to be clean, washed to be whiter than snow.

Angel facies or not, pray this be in my heart as I behold every person:

To see God in every bit of His creation and... to LOVE.

This, underlined, bolded, italicised.

Amen.

teenster-clay*mouldedwithlove*craftedwithcare
11:40 PM 30 comments