0400 The Family

Seen from the back as they walk along the dusty summer road, with the sheep straying onto the verges where a tuft of more succulent grass may linger in the earlier shadow of the noontime sun, under the low stone wall, it’s difficult to see whether the couple walking with the gentle pace of conversation, are son and father, or his grandfather; the man seems older than the young fathers around here. But from the front, when you see their eyes, there’s no mistake – they’re father (or stepfather?) and son all right, talking with such attention, such respect for one another. They walk into the village, silently greeted, greeting, with the gentle nodded glance of villagers about their various tasks; and open up the wooden door of the cool and tidy carpenters’ workshop open to the sunny air, where a young mother gazes at the boy with all the love in the world. It’s in His eyes too.