“I see four noses. Why do I have four noses?”
“I’m not sure. I think I see five noses.”
The young girl in the elevator looked up at me through the reflection, relieved to find that I was smiling. A quick glance to her mom brought gave her a sense of confidence. For a moment, the look in her eyes said that she thought I was serious.
“I see you have six noses!”
“No, eight.”
“No, ten!”
I could not help but laugh as she pointed out that I had ten eyes and eight ears. I was quite the monster!
“How do you see and smell with all those eyes and noses?”
Good question. I just smiled and said, “I have no idea. How do you do it?”
Trusting another, especially someone bigger and more powerful, feels risky. When they tell you something you are not expecting, it is hard to know what to do with it. Does one accept it without thinking? Do we check with someone we trust? Is there a single answer that applies to every situation? Her glance in the mirror has stayed with me. She looked for and found something in a single glance. Whatever it was, it gave her the ability to take the lead in a conversation with a stranger. She seemed to know and trust that there was something absolute that could be affirmed in a glance.
Her trust echoed David. In her glance she knew the Other would “give you what your heart desires, accomplish your plans.” (Psalm 20.4)
“I don’t know. I just do.”
Trust in action. She may have six, even ten noses but she knows she is beautiful. She may not know how life works but she knows how that living means action, doing the stuff. She may not be a big or as powerful she can stand her ground.
Today I will step out. I know there is One that can “give you what your heart desires, accomplish your plans.” (Psalm 20.4) Her words will be mine.
“I don’t know. I just do.”
