Quote
“For news of the
heart, ask the face.” Cambodian proverb.
News
Last week the most extensive face transplant ever undertaken
is transforming the life of American Richard Lee Norris, who was disfigured in
a horrific shooting accident in 1997, when he was 22. Even though he now has the appearance of another
man, he can, literally, face the world again.
Considered to be the ‘organ of emotion’, the human face is capable
of 5000 different expressions. They
provide information about moods and emotions, cognitive activity, temperament
and personality, truthfulness and psychopathology (aiding in mental health
diagnosis).
Remarkably, people of every culture use the same mannerisms to
show their emotions. Our facial
expressions are universal and innate to us as human beings, leading to their
central role in interpersonal relationships.
Being ‘face-to-face’ with another person provides the most
comprehensive environment for communication and understanding – to build and
cherish relationships on one hand, or to repair them on the other. Eye contact reveals the inner person with
their thoughts and feelings; opening a window into the soul.
Our face encapsulates our identity and our
relationality. Hence injury or
disfigurement to the face – through accidents, operations, resulting from a
stroke or other illness – is potentially more disabling than injury to other
parts of the body, because it affects one’s ability to relate.
Western culture makes an idol out of photogenic beauty; we
have a billion dollar beauty industry, but how much do we spend on the development
of character, valuing each and every human face and the unique person behind
it?
Read on...
Dr Paul Brand was someone who understood more than most the
link between disfigurement
and social rejection, after a lifetime of working to
restore the hands of leprosy sufferers in India. Read a short article he wrote on “The Wisdom
of the Body” here.
Walk the talk
To what extent do you subconsciously adopt the prevailing
value system by esteeming the handsome over the plain, the slim over the
overweight, the young over the old? Is
there any relationship where you need to pay more attention to the person’s
underlying character?
The last word
From the Bible, 1 Samuel 16, verse 7: “People look at the outward appearances
but the Lord looks at the heart.”
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