SAVING FACE

What does the expression, to save face, mean? The first answer that popped up in my search read: to retain respect and avoid humiliation.  Face is further described online as "a combination of social standing, reputation, influence, dignity, and honor. Causing someone to lose face lowers them in the eyes of their peers. But saving face or building face raises self-worth—obviously a better outcome for everyone."

When we hear about losing face or saving face, we’re talking about a person’s value. It’s not about being right or wrong, but how you treat people. Nowadays, it's extremely rare to see someone honored, respected, or treated with dignity--especially if, God forbid, you have a different point of view! It is bewildering. 

Let me tell you a little story that led me to think about this. Last week, I tripped on the sidewalk and fell down pretty hard, breaking my knee. Strangely, we could see no obvious reason for it. I simply came to a thin line in the concrete and my right shoe stuck, while the rest of me kept going!   

 

The only thing that saved my face, literally, was the visor of the new ballcap on my head!   When I first saw it in a store window, I burst out laughing, so my husband bought it for me just two weeks earlier. 

Make Karen Great Again!

Isn't that interesting? We know politics has been painfully divisive, but my name's being trashed by a world of critics these days. So I wear it in good humor, after about two years of hearing, What a Karen! and, You're a Karen if... 

  

Of course, Karen was one of 10 most common American names in the baby-boom era. Now, along with redefining terms and telling us what we can and can’t say, I see this as another method of demeaning people with a different worldview. It seems to me that the same people who like to cancel culture, deny history, and tear down statues, seem to enjoy ridiculing people my age.  

 

So I wear the hat and smile. Yes, my name is Karen, but I won’t be silenced!  No college professor can shame me from my views. I won’t stop thinking and I won’t let them tell me what to think. I still believe in free speech, history, two genders in creation, common sense, and Biblical values. And I believe we should love one another, too! 

 

In the end, it's interesting to ponder, the same hat that physically saved my face, can also help to build my face, defined earlier as social standing, influence, dignity, and honor! I wear it proudly!

 

FOOT NOTE (pun intended)

 

I can’t help but go back to the fact that when I fell there was no visible reason for it. We turned around and scratched our heads. No sticks or stones broke my bones! (Yes, my knee was actually fractured, though I didn't know it until 5 days later.) And as I mentioned earlier, we saw nothing but a thin gray line in the concrete. 

Just like today, there’s no apparent reason for the things that are tearing us apart and causing us to fall from peace. We have simply crossed the line. We may not know the full impact for a long time.   

Now, what's on the other side of this line, America?  It might cost us dearly, but we need to keep walking and we need to keep talking. Heaven help us, may we never lose our voice.