PLEASE HEAR WHAT I'M NOT SAYING
Don't be fooled by me.
Don't be fooled by the face I wear
for I wear a mask, a thousand masks,
masks that I'm afraid to take off,
and none of them is me.
Pretending is an art that's second nature to 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.
My surface may seem smooth
but my surface is my mask,
ever-varying and ever-concealing.
Beneath lies no complacence.
Beneath lies confusion,
and fear, and aloneness.
But I hide this.
I don't want anybody to know it.
I panic at the thought of my weakness exposed.
That's why I frantically create a mask to hide behind, a nonchalant sophisticated facade,
to help me pretend, to shield me from the glance that knows.
Each time you're kind, and gentle,
and encouraging, each time you try to understand because you really care,
my heart begins to grow wings-
- very small wings,
very feeble wings,
but wings!
With your power to touch me into feeling you can breathe life into me.
I want you to know that.
I want you to know how important you are to me, how you can be a creator-
-an honest-to-God creator-
- of the person that is me
if you choose to.
You alone can break down
the wall behind which I tremble,
you alone can remove my mask,
you alone can release me
from my shadow-world of panic,
from my lonely prison,
if you choose to. Please choose to. Do not pass me by. Who am I, you may wonder?
I am someone you know very well. For I am every man you meet
and I am every woman you meet.
Charles C. Finn -September 1966
"Do not be afraid.
For everything that is now covered
will be uncovered
and everything now hidden
will be made clear." Matthew 10:26
AS FAR AS GOD IS CONCERNED, THERE IS NO NEED FOR US TO WEAR A MASK BEHIND WHICH TO HIDE, BECAUSE.......
The genuine picture of yourself
is that you have been made in the image of God.
God knows you inside and out.
You don't need to hide behind a mask;
God loves all that He has made,
including you!
Pray that you might begin to see yourself
as God sees you
– frail, but innately good,
and beautiful and lovable in His eyes.
What do you love about yourself?
(I know it's easier to say what you hate about yourself!!!)
What are you good at?
What gifts has God given you?
What might God find lovable about you?
Say "Thank you" to God,
and see how you can live more thankfully,
in the knowledge that you are lovable.
