These are my thoughts. You do not need to agree to me.
July 24, 2011
It's Sunday and it was my first day back to church since I left the country for a vacation in Israel and Mongolia on June 21. It was an awesome feeling seeing other church members, though not all were present. I felt so blessed and I felt that I have more strength than before to encounter the oddities of daily life. Yesterday, I had a short chat with Lydia at the gym, a Christian senior citizen from Cuba, who, I think, one of the most mellow and positive senior (in her late 70s) at the gym. One thought she said that triggered my thoughts so much to be more reflective that day was when she said, "I try to be friendly to everybody. In such way, I pass to them the power of Lord though my outlook." What a powerful message she imparted to me that very moment. What came to my mind in that instance is the the word "countenance."
It is from Dr. Charles Stanley from his daily podcasts and TV messages that I came across of the word "countenance," and since then, I began thinking of the real essence to word to my daily life. In my understanding, it's how people perceive you- both words and deeds, and more so, by your mere physical presence. I know there are so many other things and better explanation about this word. As I think about it sporadically and occasionally (specially when the messages I hear or read has some thoughts about it), I began to think of the facial expression. In our face, the eyes, I believe, are the most important structures because eyes can tell more about us - as in the saying goes, "Eyes are the windows of our emotions." I do not know who said this, but I know that I read, learned and heard it sometime in the past.
In the past, I came across of the passage below that talks about haughty eyes. The website I posted in this blog made me recall the exact verse, in fact, it is from the website where I copied and pasted the full verse below.
"There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers" (Proverbs 6:16-19).
Click to see explanations about haughty eyes in a Christian perspectives
As I read through this article from be website above, I had a clearer understanding about haughty eyes. What a great reminder not be proudful on what we have! Many people will find this to be very difficult, as our human tendency is to keep on achieving both materially and physically.
The word "snobbish" is included in the definition of "haughty eyes" from the website. (The definition of haughty is as follows: disdainfully proud; snobbish, scornfully arrogant; supercilious.) This made me ask myself of the question: "How about those people you know but they pretend that they did not see you at all (considering you both are in the same location). Please do not tell me that this is not true and never happen. There are instances that someone will give a side look whom he/she knows pretend that he/she did not see him/her. Oftentimes the two-way interaction will only happen when the other person started saying "hi" or give a nice wave of hand as acknowledgement of his/her presence. Of course it is true ...it is very difficult to find a true person to be considered as a "true friend," One may not even find one. I have several friends on different levels
-good friends (may include acquaintances most frequently visited places such as the gym, colleagues in work places). I would say they are the "Have a good day" or "See you next time" kind of interaction. As Charles Stanley said, "They are the "fair weather" friends.
-close friends (may include people that you know for a long time that you can share thoughts and opinions but still you keep most of your private and personal concerns)
-true friend (this include the people who will still accept you after knowing who you are..and will always be there for whatever reason and circumstance in life you are in) I include my parents in this category.
As a Christian, my true friend is my Lord Jesus Christ....As the hymn goes..."What A Friend We Have In Jesus." One of my old time favorite hymns, which made me learn how play that piece in the piano...just one of the few pieces I know how to play.
Back to being "snobbish," I think a simple "hi," wave of hand, and a positive facial expression as a sign of acknowledging the presence of the other person will be good enough (specially during those instances that we do not want to be disturbed in the middle of our task) instead of totally ignoring the person. I believe that acknowledging the person boost the "sense of belonging" of the person that we acknowledge.
In my daily activities (at work, neighborhood, travels, in the gym, in the pool, groceries, etc.), I've encountered...let me put it this way...real and sincere people. As for me, they are the ones who will exert an effort (big or small) to show acknowledgement of your presence. In some cases, there are people that I met who will certainly "drop the ball" and take the time.
What are your thoughts about this?
Make it a great day...Jeah!
Photo taken in the Jumping Board in the Nam Song river during my visit to Vang Vieng in Laos last July 2010
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