Category: Face Of The Day

Ruthie Leming and her daughter, Claire, at the hospital last Friday. Ruthie Leming has been recently diagnosed with cancer. This is a face of the day – rather than faces – not because Ruthie's is not animated but because her daughter's face seems to me to be quite remarkable. In my faith, God appears before us all the time and yet we do not see God's presence. But sometimes it is so over-powering even we cannot look away. This often happens in moments of great suffering and pain, in my experience, as if the veil we place over our eyes to protect ourselves from God's overwhelming love is somehow lifted paradoxically by suffering. I have never felt closer to God than during some of the worst moments of my life.

"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."

Leming happens to be Rod Dreher's sister. His heart-felt dispatch from earlier in the week:

All the praying, the begging, the anguishing, the fasting — and there has been no miracle. She's still very sick indeed. I realized tonight that in my frenzy to call the attention of God to my sister's plight and to convince him to heal her, I've been playing a kind of saints roulette, trying to hit on the right saint to ask prayers of, as if somehow my placing a bet on the right saint's name would make an electric connection with heaven, and divine energy would course right down to my sister's hospital room and save her, bam, just like that. I know it doesn't work that way. Believe me, I do.

But I don't know what else to say to God, or the saints, on my sister's behalf. I know this isn't like a courtroom, in which I need to come up with the cleverest argument to convince the judge that my sister's life is worth saving. I know that magical thinking is a fallacy. I know that the communion of saints is not like a cocktail party in which I'm the wild-eyed stranger who's walked in off the street and is annoying partygoers by interrupting their conversations to see who can spare the time to come out and help me get my car unstuck from the snowbank on the curb.

But I don't know what else to do. And it's not working.

I recommend Rod's many posts in this subject:

1. My sister has cancer

2. The theology of illness

3. Hospital in Baton Rouge

4. When prayer seems futile

5. Our beautiful, horrible cancer day

6. Andy Crouch's three last things

A large face mask called the Malus is displayed at Bonhams auction house on February 19, 2010 in London, England. A selection of items from the BBC’s Costumes and Props archive that appeared in the famous TV show Dr Who, including Daleks and Cybermen will be sold at the ‘Doctor Who’ Memorabilia Auction, at Bonhams auction house on February 24, 2010. By Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.

A young woman prays during an Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle February 17, 2010 in Washington, DC. Yesterday marked the beginning of Lent for Catholics, a 40-day penitential period before Easter. By Win McNamee/Getty Images.

Nick Bycroft, Kennel Huntsman with the Avon Vale hunt enjoys a drink prior to riding out from a hunt meet near Trowbridge on February 16, 2010 in Wiltshire , England. This week marks the fifth anniversary of the hunting ban that was introduced by the Labour government in 2005. Many hunt supporters are hoping that the Conservative party will repeal the ban if they win power at the next general election, which is widely expected to be called in the next few months. By Matt Cardy/Getty Images.

A reader writes:

Thanks for calling attention to Germany's delightful tradition of political parade floats. I live in Duesseldorf myself. The float about Merkel isn't about her own tax evasion; it's about other people's. Here's the explanation:

An anonymous source has come forward to offer the government of Germany a CD containing stolen bank records with the names of thousands of German citizens who have illegally sheltered money in foreign bank accounts to evade German taxes (Steuerflucht literally means "escape from taxes"). The anonymous source wants 2.5 million Euros for the CD, but promises that it will bring in hundreds of millions of dollars to the German treasury. Even the discussion about whether to buy the CD has already led dozens of tax evaders to turn themselves in and pay their penalties. There is a very intense discussion in Germany about whether it's OK to essentially reward data theft in order to catch tax evaders. Despite some misgivings, Merkel's coalition government has signaled that it probably will buy the CD.

The title of the float, Sündenfall, literally means "sin-trap", but refers to the Original Sin, i.e. Eve eating the apple from the Tree of Knowledge. This is why Merkel is depicted nude, and why a snake is offering her the CD. In any case, a clever float.

And, by the way, it's pretty tame as far as Merkel-mocking goes. This float is, I would think, self-explanatory (and NSFW).

A carnival float with papier mache figure of US president Barck Obama is pictured during the traditional Rose Monday carnival parade on February 15, 2010 in Duesseldorf, Germany. The Rose Monday parades in Cologne, Mainz and Duesseldorf are the highlight of the German street carnival season. By Kirsten Neumann/Getty Images. Der Erloser means "savior".

But if you think Obama was singled out, you should see what they did to Merkel (NSFW):

I think she's being accused of tax evasion. By Kirsten Neumann again.

Haitian earthquake survivors pray while gathered in Champ de Mars on the first of three days of mourning February 12, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The current official estimated death toll stands at 217,000 with around 1.2 million living in temporary encampments. By Mario Tama/Getty Images.

Head nurse Suharyono shaves a patient named Yoyo at the Galuh foundation for mental patients in East Bekasi near Jakarta on February 11, 2010 in Bekasi, Indonesia. Belief in black magic is commonplace in Indonesia, where there is limited education about mental health issues, with traditional healers instead consulted for apparent sufferers. 2007 figures suggest that 4.6% of the nation suffers from serious mental disorders. The country’s population now stands at around 230 million, with only around 700 psychiatrists at 48 psychiatric hospitals available to help treat those affected. With such limited care, sufferers instead usually turn to black magic and are taken to ‘dukuns’ or healers who are believed to have magical powers. By Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images.

A snowman is seen in front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 8, 2010. By Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images.

On February 8, 2010 a man bathes at one of the many tent cities that have sprung up in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The death toll from the Jan. 12 earthquake has reached 212,000 people with 300,000 injured and over one million homeless. By Mario Tama/Getty Images.