The Masks We Wear.....

THE MASK I WEAR

Don't be fooled by me.
Don't be fooled by the face I wear
For I wear a mask. I wear a thousand masks-
masks that I'm afraid to take off
and none of them are me.
Pretending is an art that's second nature with me
But don't be fooled, for God's sake, don't be fooled.
I give you the impression that I'm secure
That all is sunny and unruffled with me
within as well as without,
that confidence is my name
and coolness my game,
that the water's calm
and I'm in command,
and that I need no one.
But don't believe me. Please!

My surface may be smooth but my surface is my mask,
My ever-varying and ever-concealing mask.
Beneath lies no smugness, no complacence.
Beneath dwells the real me in confusion, in fear, in aloneness.
But I hide this.
I don't want anybody to know it.
I panic at the thought of my weaknesses
and fear exposing them.
That's why I frantically create my masks to hide behind.

But I don't tell you this.
I don't dare.
I'm afraid to.
I'm afraid you'll think less of me, that you'll laugh
and your laugh would kill me.
I'm afraid that deep-down I'm nothing, that I'm just no good
and you will see this
and reject me.

I idly chatter to you in suave tones of surface talk.
I tell you everything that's nothing
and nothing of what's everything, of what's crying within me.
So when I'm going through my routine
do not be fooled by what I'm saying
Please listen carefully and try to hear
what I'm not saying
Hear what I'd like to say
but what I can not say.

It will not be easy for you,
long felt inadequacies make my defenses strong.
The nearer you approach me
the blinder I may strike back.
Despite what books say of men, I am irrational;
I fight against the very thing that I cry out for.
you wonder who I am
you shouldn't
for I am everyman
and everywoman
who wears a mask.
Don't be fooled by me.
At least not by the face I wear.
-----Author unknown -this has been published in many publications.


Ok so why did I post this now? Because all to often we women (me included) hide behind these masks. I know this because I do it sometimes. You ask how are you as you walk on by and I automatically respond with good, fine, when in reality I hope you'll notice that you'll really look at me and see that I am not fine that I feel all alone in this crowd of people ( and I have to believe that I am not alone in this!). Are we so busy with ourselves that we can't see that there are others out there hurting? I have been reading this book Outflow and I have to say I am soo selfish sometimes, I look at my life and sometimes think why me when in reality I should be asking God how will you use this? Help me to see these people around me the way you do. I sometimes pray that God will give me God shaped eyes so that I can see them as He does and not with my human eyes. Ok so why did I write all this and what does it have to do with wearing masks? I guess I am trying to say that we (me especially) need to look for those oportunities to reach out to those that are around us, to really look and see them as God does! My challenge to you this week is to pray that God would place someone along your path that you can help, in some way, and then help them! (Crazy I know) Post on here what came of that! I promise I will!

Luke 9:24-25 (The Message)

23-27Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat—I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I'm leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn't, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God."

Jesus Christ looks behind every facade. He looks at your heart. That is the difference. You do not need to pretend in front of him. With him, you do not need a mask anymore. People see what is before their eyes but the Lord sees the heart.

Have a Beautiful Day!

Christina