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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2013-02-14, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013. By Rev. Tom Murray, Knox United, Belgrave A number of years ago, an amazing event took place. Toyota’s president went on TV to apologize for sticking gas pedals and bad brakes. But he wasn’t just another CEO trying to stop the red ink flowing in Toyota’s bottom line, he was also the grandson of Toyota’s founder and desperately trying to “save face” for himself and for past and future generations of his family. In Asian cultures face is everything. And face is arguably the most positive social value a person can claim. One’s face is the blend of honour, reputation, responsibility, prestige and worthiness that one must maintain within all social interactions. To lose face is to behave in such a way that every aspect of one’s being, social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual, is reduced, ruined and humiliated. Just as our Inuit peoples have various words for “snow,” the idea of face to Asian culture, and to our global culture these days, is the same yet, supreme! Is there anyone reading who hasn’t heard of the social-media-colossus of the internet, Facebook? Over 1.2 billion people use Facebook; the largest social media website on planet Earth. Across the globe; personal, government intra and inter, trade, commerce, and NGO’s alike are defining “social” relationships in terms of Facebook. On Facebook, we create the image of ourselves we want others to see, edit out aspects of our lives that are embarrassing, uncomplimentary, or just too much in-your-face. We can post the most flattering profiles, fudge facts and write total fiction! We can have many Facebook accounts. But we do not have complete control over our Facebook face or our Facebook wall, as others can leave messages, report gossip or reveal secrets on our wall for everyone to see. Already there have been too many instances where sub-teen and teen hazing and cruelty, have led to suicide. The last desperate act of the face-less is ending their life; for without face there is no life. Here is the number one myth of a TGIF (Twitter, Google, Internet, and Facebook) world: we may well have less face-time and less social interaction. How do I know that; because for all that it really creates, the more Facebook we have the more it’s in-our-face? You know what that means? I think we all do. The truth is that the more we depend on cyberspace for face-off and face-lift, the more we need real “face time.” Making face- time with loved ones, friends, family, colleagues and our neighbours, takes away the digital filters that hide or protect us. Let’s check out how Facebook alone exposes us: by robbing its average user of 23 hours a month – really! Seven hundred billion minutes a month! When Moses asks God to “show me your glory,” God covers Moses’ eyes as he passes him by, allowing him only a peek at God’s back. But in the text for Transfiguration Sunday, just past the relationship between God and God’s people goes from Facebook to face-time. As Jesus stands before God in prayer, his heart and mind and spirit in full communication with his Father; “... his face is changed,” on that mountaintop. (Luke 9:29) Jesus’ true identity was revealed as God’s glory came face-to-face with Jesus’ humanity. Jesus’ mission was communication, healing and teaching. As Jesus did these things, he gave glimpses of God’s glory that drew people nearer to the divine. When Philip blurted out his blindness by imploring Jesus to “show us the Father, and we will be satisfied,” Jesus pulled back the curtain even further. “Have I been with you all this time Philip and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:8-9). In the order of ancient and modern Asian cultures saving face is the basis of each and every social interaction. To gain face is the whole kit and caboodle of all we do and is at all times the only way to avoid the risk of losing face. One’s status, among the Roman rulers, Greek culture, and Jewish religious life in Jesus’ time, was that which defined one’s identity. But the face God revealed in Jesus that day went beyond an identity that could be “gained” or “lost.” The face God revealed in Jesus went past any structures of social status and revealed the face of love. “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide Continued from page 11 Pork work with other livestock groups and farm organizations to look into setting up a local peer review committee of fellow farmers and swine veterinarians that would, along with the OSPCA, be part of investigating a complaint against a pork farmer thereby adding accountability to the investigation. Producers move to change inspections From the Minister’s StudyOur Facebook vs. face time needs correcting THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS. OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS: Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday 6:00 p.m. 17 Flora Street Wingham: Sacred Heart Sunday 9:00 a.m. 220 Carling Terrace Listowel: St. Joseph Sunday 11:00 a.m. 1025 Wallace Avenue N. This Sunday at HURON CHAPEL Great Music And Real Testimonies Of How Jesus Christ Changed Real Lives. Sunday @ 10:30 am www.huronchapel.org This Sunday at This Sunday at This Sunday at HURON CHAPEL HURO This Sunday at N CH This Sunday at HAPE This Sunday at L Great Music Jesus Chris at M st Changed R Real Lives w Sunday @ 10:30 am www Sunday @ 10:30 am www Jesus Christ Changed Real Lives. Sunday @ 10:30 am www Jesus Christ Changed Real Lives. .huronchapel.orgSunday @ 10:30 am www Jesus Christ Changed Real Lives. .huronchapel.org MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS Rev. Elwin Garland SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17 Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available 519-887-9017 10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship - Sunday School Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m. CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS MINISTER Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div. All Welcome MUSIC DIRECTOR Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224 FEBRUARY 17 ~ The “I” Test FEBRUARY 24 ~ Sound Check Youre Invited to come worship with us Sunday, February 17 Brussels Business & Cultural Centre at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday School for children 4 to 11 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621 Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship SUNDAYS Morning Service 10:00 am Evening Service 7:30 pm BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Interim Minister: Pastor Gary Klumpenhower 519-523-9233 Hwy. 4, Blyth 519-523-4743 www.blythcrc.ca BRUSSELS Sandra Cable, Pastor Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - beunitedchurch@gmail.com SUNDAY SERVICE 11:00 am Sunday School Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship United Church getlivingwater.org Living Water Christian Fellowship 10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School Wingham Bible Study - Tuesdays 7:30 pm Youth Group - Tuesdays 7:30 pm (at CRC) Women At The Well - 1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God) TEEN CHALLENGE, LONDON February 15 FAITH-IN-SONG 8 pm at CRC Friday, February 22 DATE NIGHT CHALLENGE! 7:15 pmFree dessert, inspiring speakers, music, comedy DVD produced by Focus on the Family Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848 Evangelical Missionary Church February 17 Potluck after to Meet the Students 250 Princess St., Brussels 519-887-6388 www.bmfchurch.com Pastor Jim Whitehead Guests Welcome Jesus Is Lord! Brussels Mennonite Fellowship Worship Service 10:00 am Sunday School 11:15 am Continued on page 14