Leaving behind his wife, children and other loved ones he sought the highest mountain where no disturbance could find him. No noise came there besides the ocassional noises made by animals in the forest and trees dancing to the rythm of the wind. The man prayed and fasted with abbottlike dedication. Days went by and the man grew thin. He prayed and begged the Lord to show his face but the Lord never did.
The man grew frail, but restless and impatient at the same time. Ugliness began to corrupt his heart, overshadowing the purity he had sought.
His family and friends became worried as time passed. Concerned about the wellbeing of the man they sent a young man in his wake to bring him food and fresh supplies.
Upon arrival the youngman was met with a hostile reaction. "Get away from me devil. How dare you come to tempt me with your cheap tactics, seducing me with food and wine?", the man shouted at the youngman as he chased him away and threw the food he had brought at him.
40 days and 40 nights went by. The man felt closer to God but still had not seen his face. The man wished to return home but he had grown so weak that he knew he couldnt make it home. He longed for the food that he had thrown at the youngman and bitterness and guilt filled his spirit. Even a simple crumb of bread picked from the floor could do, but even such had become a luxury he could only dream of. Soon disease overtook him and riddled his body.
Noticing that the man had not returned after the planned period his family sent the young man after him again, but this time when the young man arrived he was met with a site of horror.
Upon entering the cave that the man had made his dwelling the young man was horrified to see a bone thin man struggling to even breathe lying on the floor. The young man rushed to pick up the man and hold him in his arms. Tears streamed down his cheeks. The man could barely open his eyes, let alone recognise the young man. The young man could tell that the man's eyes were filled with wild disillusionment.
Through laboured breathing the man asked "Are you God? Have you finally decided to show your face?"
"No Mukulu. Its me. Your Nephew, Muphwa Wanu." The young man replied.
"Ah, Even on my deathbed God denies me his face", and so the man renounced God as he breathed his last.
The man died with the ignorance that we see God's face everyday. We see it in the smile of a child, the loving face of our spouses, friends and relatives or in a stranger's face. You see, God's composition is love as manifested by 1 John 4:8 which says
"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." The man the man sought God's face by distancing himself from others the more he distanced himself from seeing it.
In the beginning as told by Genesis 1:26 God made man in his image and since God is love, that image is an image of love as well. Without love we can never see God's face.
Life is such a wonderful thing and love makes it abundant. Choose to see God's face everyday.
