Closet Full of Masks

     It was just Halloween time, and my son announced that he would like a costume with a full mask this year.  Why?  Because he would like to make the rounds twice – one with his normal face, then one with his mask on so people wouldn’t recognize him and he could get twice the candy!

 

     We all like to wear masks, don’t we?   My daughter recently made a comment to me, “Mom, church people aren’t as good as you think.”  Um… ouch?!?   It was a heart-breaking revelation that actually threw me back to my own teen years, where I struggled to figure out who I was.  I was basically a good person, crazy, goofy, sassy yet sweet; I loved church and youth group and had a great bunch of friends there; I had school friends that I didn’t really mix with my church friends because we participated in different activities; I spoke three different languages – the one I used at home, the one I used at church, and the one I used everywhere else.  So I guess you could say that I had a closet full of masks.  As I’ve grown up, I’ve worked hard at weeding them out.  Some just plain dry rotted – old, some vile, some no longer used, and most I have decided to just throw away.  Although I try to live transparently, my daughter’s comment made me realize that I would be lying if I said that I didn’t have an emergency mask or two tucked in a drawer somewhere.  

 

     What about you?  Have enough masks to fill a costume shop?   Well, guess what  – we’re not meant to wear masks.  Nope, sorry but it’s true.  God created us to be amazing and with incredible potential – but we wear our masks because we care more about what people think.  We put them on out of fear and insecurity and a desire to be liked and accepted.  Some people wear them to hide something they are ashamed of or a behavior that they know is incorrect.  

 

     But the awesome part is................