Pictures

I'm struck how when I see a person's face, that I make a connection. A simple photograph, the older the better, moves me somehow. Maybe it's the eyes. Maybe it's the facial expression. Maybe it's seeing a slice of time that was halted for only a moment.
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Something about a photograph wipes away anonymity. If we hear a name on TV or see a name in the paper, the person attached to that name is fleeting, almost non-existent. But when you have a face, the story changes. A face has a story, and you can feel the story instantly and connect.
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Don't you ask yourself, who is that person? Recently, I remember hearing a story in South Carolina where the educational television station let go of a lot of people. It didn't register until I saw those faces in my mind. Those people, many whom I've known for several years, were now unemployed. I felt sad for them. I prayed for them and their families. I still wonder where they've gone off to.
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I can see the faces of friends in my mind. Are they well? Are they sick? Can I help them if they need the help? Will the churches help? Will the neighbors help? Will the family help? There's no way of knowing until you pose the question to the one who needs help. Should I care?
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Absolutely. But I don't know all of the people who need help. I don't have a face to put together with the problem. There's no snapshot to pull from my head and say, 'I see them, and now I can help them.' I was riveted recently by photographs of children. They were playing, smiling, and doing children stuff. But these were children taken from us by the Holocaust. I feel as if I know them, if only for that moment they had in time.
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If I don't see, can I care a lot? If I see too much, will my mind shut it out? I wonder if our country suffers from this same issue. Or maybe we're just so inundated with faces that we don't see an individual. There's no connection. We're connected with our friends, relatives, church members, fellow heathens, etc., but we're not always connected to the faces of those who need help.
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I complain about my doctor sometimes, but I do have a regular doctor. When I see his face I sometimes think "You're expensive, and I'm glad I have insurance." I also think some other things that aren't printable.
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Some people don't have that complaint because they don't have a doctor. And even if they do have a doctor, they can't afford the medication that the doctor prescribes to help them.
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I'm not preaching here. I don't want to. But it makes me angry that we as a nation, the nation we say that is so certainly blessed by our Creator, is unable to help a group of its citizens that appear to be faceless to a lot of us. Is it the government's responsibility? Is it the community's responsibility? Is it the person's responsibility? Personally, I think the answer lies in all of the above. Your opinion may vary.
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But what I keep hearing is "Blah, blah, blah government. Blah, blah, blah, socialist. Blah, blah, blah, free market. Blah, blah, blah, taxes." And I hear partisan sniping that sounds a lot like talk for the sake of talking. Doesn't it exhaust you? I need caffeine just to get through all of their crapaciousness. The bottom line? Let's talk smack about the people we don't agree with and not decide on anything.
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I don't have a solution. We all know that faceless people will die because of inadequate care or no care at all. We also know that every moment wasted will be a moment lost for someone and lost to the people close to that someone. But maybe if those in charge can take a look at some moments in time, see the faces and not just hear the names, maybe something will begin the change.
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Here's to hoping that the upcoming moments will change for the better. That's my picture.
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