I watched the movie Faces with my wife. As the end credits rolled, a complex swirl of emotions lingered, prompting me to leave this honest, albeit scattered, record of my thoughts.
The protagonist of the movie (played by Kwon Hae-hyo) is a man born blind who overcame contempt and ridicule to become a state-recognized master craftsman. On the surface, he appears to be a man who has weathered every storm and earned the respect of all. However, through a certain incident, his hidden wounds are exposed, revealing that they had remained unhealed all along.
The scars from the mockery and neglect he endured in his youth were so deep that even years later, he perceives the pure kindness and helping hands of those around him as “pity” or “stabs of ridicule.” Watching his painful defense mechanisms made my heart ache.
During my 20 years of ministry in a mission organization and the local church, I have encountered countless souls burdened by deep wounds. Like the protagonist in the movie, I often meet those who recognize their pain yet fail to step into the place of forgiveness and restoration. Instead, they turn their arrows of criticism toward those who try to help them.
I stay by their side with a sincere heart, praying with them, empathizing, and offering counsel through Bible study. Yet, when that sincerity is distorted and returns as hostility, it is true that I, too, feel a sense of human futility and distress. However, I know that those sharp reactions are actually screams of “I don’t want to be hurt anymore.” Thus, there have been many times when I simply had to embrace that criticism in silence.
Nevertheless, they remain at the very top of my prayer list. I believe that only the Holy Spirit, our Counselor, can touch the deepest parts of the soul where human comfort or counseling cannot reach.
I earnestly hope that in God’s perfect timing, the bolts of their closed hearts will be unbarred, and they will enter the path of true restoration. I keep my place of prayer in silence today, longing for the day when their broken spirits no longer produce such painful side effects, but are reborn into a beautiful patchwork within the grace of the Lord.