FACES FROZEN in TIME

(Excerpt from Book #2 of the Core Conviction Series--UNCHAINED--coming soon)There are so many facets to a person’s life, yet it is common to fall into the trap of remembering a person because of one negative face. One label. “Isn’t that ‘so and so,’ the one who got divorced?” “Wasn’t he addicted to drugs?” “Oh yea, I know her, she’s a felon.” “Who, him—he dropped out of school.”  “She got pregnant in high school.”Labels—all of which conveniently categorize a person’s entire life, veiling his or her character behind one negative face frozen in time. One noticeable hardship. One bad season. One awful decision.I presently write these thoughts with my “face sheet” lying right next to my word processor. You see, a prisoner’s face sheet is his resume: his one-dimensional biography acted out by him and published by somebody else—often at the expense of another. On this piece of paper, one’s classification is reduced to a charge and a status.  According to my sheet, I am no more than a felon. A prisoner of the state. An inmate number: 314525E. Charge: Aggravated manslaughter. First degree. My criminal record.But there are many more degrees that make up the person of Matthew Maher and even far more faces that I have worn prior to the mug on my face sheet.  For some, their face sheet may be accurate and a fair summary based on their recidivism rate. But for others, it is a surface evaluation of an isolated circumstance—a tragic one for sure, but nonetheless not a total picture of one’s history. However, this face sheet label becomes the label synonymous with a prisoner’s face; it follows him wherever life leads from that point on.Through my journey, I have met a few whose one moment of faulty judgment will define them forever. A family man with a promising career gets into a fight in a bar, and the other party is injured. The husband, father, and rising star winds up with a new label: felon.  And a face sheet that erases 20 years of an illustrious resume. The end result will always be a life evaluated “with prejudice.” I understand how my face may recall in other people’s minds the egregious act that I caused.  But I must admit that I sometimes ponder with mind-blowing regret how one reckless decision erased all the other facets of my life. Twenty-four years of being a “normal” kid, who also managed to earn a few labels such as: a high-school honors student; a full-scholarship recipient; a double-major graduate of Temple University Fox Business School. Twenty-one years as a student-athlete, who managed to earn accolades and awards, championships and records. Eventually earning other labels—first-round draft pick and professional. All these labels were just surface facts to the multiple facets of my life prior to March 7, 2009. Yet, in spite of my past labels and present label, I proudly wear a new label—a label that takes every facet of my life, the ‘beauty’ of it and the ‘beast’ part of it, and gives me a new record. A new face. A new label. New.There are those who will always remember me for what I’ve done, and I’m OK with that. They will label me “felon” and “murderer.”  I can handle it because I know who I am and Whose I am. I am who I am by the grace of God, and I am a new creation in Christ. I live by the label He has placed on my life. His record.However, for the sake of others, I urge you to think before you attempt to fit another person’s entire life into one negative description. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).