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The face that expresses

Father Michel Almaric's favorite

 

Who would have thought three months ago that protective masks against the coronavirus would be a national and even global concern? The mask is the essential element of the 'barrier gestures', while it is not part of the culture of Europeans. We were used to see Asians wearing masks to protect themselves from pollution. But, for us Westerners, at present, while understanding its sanitary function, the mask invites creativity, with the most diverse and original decorative elements possible. I sometimes have difficulty identifying people as these fantasies too often took precedence over face recognition.

All this led me to reread pages of the philosopher Levinas well known for his approach to the "Face". He points out that what we see materially from the other is first of all his face. It is addressed to each of us, and our eyes meet. Of our entire body, the skin of the face is the one that remains the most naked, the most exposed. There is an essential poverty in this "wrinkle skin" because the face is helpless. Also, all treatments, all make-up would like to hide this reality, because the face "speaks". He demands that we answer him. Levinas writes, "The face imposes himself on me without me being able to remain deaf to his call, nor forget him," Levinas goes further when he mentions that it is through his face that the other bursts into our history. He comes up to me and makes me responsible for him. It even goes so far as to evoke the trace of infinity that is inscribed in the face of the other.

Wouldn't there be the risk of missing out on a real human relationship when the mask is decorated as if it were for a carnival? We can thus treat this relationship badly, if we present ourselves to the other with carnival masks. The philosopher continues his reflection when he writes: "I thought that it is in the face of others that God speaks to me for the first time."  It is in the closeness of others that God becomes close. In the current context we are not expected with carnival masks but with looks that make us exist in truth.