Friends are Without Wax

I am not sure about the authenticity of this story as it relates to the derivation of the word sincere, because I have seen so many versions in books and over the Internet, but I love the story. The ancient Romans used to prize Greek sculptures for their aesthetic excellence. The statues were already a few centuries old; however, and some of them had cracks or gaps where marble was missing.

Vendors discovered that if they put wax in the sculptures, these figures looked great---for a season. The wax looked like real marble, but over time, the wax would yellow and harden until it became apparent that the statue was not totally authentic.

So if vendors wanted to sell a statue and it was all marble---the real deal through and through--they would mark it sine, the Latin word for "without" and then cera, the Latin word for "wax". Sine cera! WITHOUT WAX!

I am beginning a journey into this ministry that God has given me where I am starting to discover the "wax" in people. Please understand, life is good, life is fine, ministry is great, God is moving and I am excited and yet with all of that said, I am realizing the difference between the authentic marble Christians and the wax supporters.

We all have experienced this. We take a job thinking this will be a wonderful place to work only to discover later what we saw was nothing more than wax, looked good for a season. We took a mate/spouse/girlfriend etc and it all looked so good for a moment only to discover it was wax, and it yellowed, hardened and decayed.

Understand, this is not a complaint or a criticism but rather this is my prayer of thanksgiving to God today. I thank God for showing me the "wax of people" because it showed me the wax in me that needs to be removed. If I never saw the fake, I would not truly appreciate the authentic. If I never saw the haters, I would have no appreciation for the supporters. If I had never encountered the temporary nature of the wax, I wouldn't appreciate the permanency of the marble.

I thank God for the sincere, WITHOUT WAX people that HE has placed in my life and I pray I can be to them what they are and have been to me.

Henri Nouwen wrote, "When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face us with the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares." It is a friend without wax

Owens