I have been been on a David Lynch movie bender lately. David Lynch is the director of such films as Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet and Eraserhead. The guy used to be a carpenter yet his films are so esoteric and metaphorical, yet he seems to be a strange mix of the practical and the artistic.

One of his films that I have found especially intriguing and significant was The Elephant Man from 1980.

You may be familiar with the story itself, even though the film was full of historical inaccuracies (including the man’s name). Joseph Merrick was a man who was alive in the late 1800s and had a severe case of Neurofibromatosis and/or Proteus Syndrome. For most of his 27 years he was a circus freak. However, after the show was closed in London, he traveled around and was often beaten and robbed due to his appearance. A Dr. Fredrick Treves took him in and cared for him. The Princess of Wales and other notable society people took pity on him and strove to make him feel like a human being. He eventually died at the age of 27 while attempting to sleep like a normal person. The actor John Hurt, who played Joseph Merrick in the movie, stated that while in the make-up required for the role, he could not breathe lying down!

There is one scene in the movie that is particularly poignant to me. From the commentary, it did not really happen. However, it is so telling of how I believe the Lord saw him and how He must see us. Now, here is Mr. Merrick at the hospital and he is obviously very repugnant to see. One of the workers there brings in several of his girlfriends to laugh at and be mortified by Mr. Merrick. Everyone is dressed very elegantly and all of the worker’s friends are “normal” looking, yet they were the ones who are the most ugly. I believe the Lord sees us as ugly and unlovely when we see others as freaks or worthy of disrespect (no matter how uncomfortable to look at them they maybe).

Now, I am not perfect. As a child and even as a young adult I admit I was afraid of some people with some severe disabilities. As an adult I like to think that maturity and experiences have led to me putting aside some of those fears, but again, I am not perfect. And I believe that learning about how the Lord sees us, has led to reducing other prejudices.

Now I can say truthfully that I know that many of the things that we call, “scary” are things that the Lord sees as beautiful. Even things like spiders and snakes and other things that give me the heebie-jeebies I believe the Lord loves as His creation, all of it.

I confess, I am afraid to ask the Lord to help me to see others (whether they have a condition or not) as He sees them. I am worried that it would overwhelm me. The beauty that the Lord was able to see in everyone from lepers to children to even those who hated Him, seems too much for me. It would probably disuade me from seeking to get even with those who hurt me and it might cause incredible guilt in me regarding times in the past when I have treated others as less than made in the Lord’s image.

However, I know we are called to. We are called to see the image of God in the people with conditions that we find disgusting, the developmentally delayed, people with horrible diseases, people who have experienced loss, the unfortunate economically, the ugly.

The question becomes how do we do it? First, try praying about it and confessing your real feelings to the Lord. Then one thing that has helped me is to look the person in the eyes and extend your hand and be willing to give a good handshake (at least to the men). It is not everything, but it is a start a start that even Joseph Merrick would have appreciated.

1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

————————————————————–W.