S. Michael Wilcox [Wilcox - Face to Face

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wilcox, S. Michael, author.

Face to face : seeking a personal relationship with God / S. Michael Wilcox.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-60907-520-0 (hardbound : alk. paper)

1. MormonsConduct of life. 2. PrayerThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 3. RevelationThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I. Title.

BX8635.3.W53 2013

248.4'89332dc232013014166

Printed in the United States of America

R. R. Donnelley, Crawfordsville, IN

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

That they should seek the Lord if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being.

Acts 17:2728

Introduction

Face to Face

Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

Luke 11:1

Ceilings

When I was a child, my mother taught me to pray. As all children do, I knelt down and followed the formula my mother gave mewe thanked, we asked, we blessed. At first she said the words and I repeated them, but as I grew older, I could talk to my Father in Heaven on my own. A childs mind comes up with some of the most interesting thoughts and questions. Many are simply delightful and others are of such complexity that even the most mature and intelligent dont have a good answer. My question as a child was really very simple. I recall kneeling alone in my room and looking up at the ceiling and wondering how my words could get through. My concept of God was that he was up, rather than around me or by my side, and all that ceiling overhead was surely a barrier. How could my words reach him? I was down here and he lived in the sky somewhere above the roof. I pictured my prayers as almost physical things, pushing through the ceiling, out the roof, and floating up into the night sky until they found God. Yet sometimes I saw them bouncing against the ceiling, looking for a way out. As a little boy, that was the best I could do. I dont remember how I solved my puzzlement. I suppose I just went on praying and eventually the concern went away. To this day, however, I sometimes wonder about my words or thoughts or desires or gratitude lifting high enough to reach God. I no longer worry too much about them bouncing off the ceiling, but that vast, seemingly empty and open stretch of stars and darkness can still cause me to pause. I particularly like to approach heaven when I am outside.

God is still, in my mind, situated above me (and I do so want to reach him, as do we all), though I affirm with faith Pauls lovely words from Athens, In him we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28). The repetition of those three Vs (live, move, have) is magical; it seems to provide an additional witness to Pauls testimony. Pauls conception of where God is seems to be more around or next to than up. This is all metaphysical metaphor, but my mind deals best with images and pictures. God must be somewhere; for me hes still above me. I usually look up when I talk to him, though without the barrier of my childhood. I believe our lives are, in a sense, a constant reaching upward toward God.

We must talk with him as did Moses, face to face. This is not only what we long for, but what God also ardently desires. For Moses, that may have meant an actual physical encounter. For most of us, it is an expression that suggests friendship, open communication, honesty, and familiar conversations. Moses experience was that the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend (Exodus 33:11). God is our friend, and friends speak with love, comfort, and trusting truthfulness. It is interesting that later in this same chapter, immediately after Moses asks, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory, God tells Moses, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live (Exodus 33:18, 20). Evidently face-to-face is not always a physical viewing and the phrase should seldom be read literally. I suspect the majority of the time it is more figurative and therefore may be descriptive of us all as we feel after our Father in Heaven.

Abraham talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another (Abraham 3:11). The phrase is used of Jacob in Genesis as he returns to the land of Canaan (see Genesis 32:30) and of all the children of Israel in Numbers: They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou Lord art among this people, that thou Lord art seen face to face, and ... that thou goest before them (Numbers 14:14). Moses reminded the people that the Lord talked with you face to face in the mount (Deuteronomy 5:4). Ezekiel, speaking for the Lord, told of a future gathering of Israel, saying, I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face (Ezekiel 20:35). Wilderness of the people is a compelling phrase that can easily be applied to our own era. The world around us, with its continually deteriorating morals, ideals, values, and expectations, can at times be a true wilderness. Hence the need for us to commune face-to-face and the Lords promise he will return our desire in kind. It can also mean a place of seclusionour own wildernessesjust as the children of Israel were led through the wilderness to learn to know the God they worshipped. We are constantly encouraged in the scriptures to seek the face of the Lord. As David wrote, Seek his face evermore (Psalm 105:4). This invitation is repeated in the Doctrine and Covenants, Seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls (D&C 101:38).

God is our Father, is he not? And therefore we may all talk with him face to face. Pascal taught that God has established prayer ... to communicate to his creatures the dignity of causality (Pascal, Penses, 166). He gives us opportunity to join him in his work of creation through reasoning with him. I like that. It tastes good, as Alma or the Prophet Joseph might say. We do address God as our Father; Jesus told Mary in that sacred encounter at the garden tomb that he was ascending to my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God (John 20:17). The Saviors closeness with the Father is open to us all. I have repeated to myself many hundreds of times Pauls beautiful words from Mars Hill, wherein he says that we are invited to feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us (Acts 17:27; emphasis added). Again, the rhythmic alliteration somehow gives Pauls words a musical lift that endear them even more to me. This is a book about feeling and finding, about reaching for the Father we trust and love. Pauls though seems to suggest the search may not be as difficult as we might make it. Whatever ceilings there may be, they are porous and the fabric thin. Are there not face-to-face possibilities for us all?