Once again the circle of seasons brings us to All Hallows
Eve or Halloween. Honestly this is not one of my favorite holidays. Too much
craziness in the name of ‘fun’ can happen. Plus, I really don’t like people in
masks because I cannot see their face. (I also have trouble with people wearing
mirrored sunglasses for the same reason-I cannot see their expression or eyes.)
Don’t we all wear masks,
though? We put on a persona based on what we think are the expectations of the
people we are interacting with. I might put on the mask of educated author when
presenting a talk about my books. In my family, I present myself as the ‘good
mom’, ever ready to help with homework. At work, the mask might be ‘efficient
worker’ and at school I might be the ‘diligent student’. Those are all parts of
us, and they help us comfortably hide the parts of our personality we don’t
want the public to see.
Even with God we sometimes
try to wear a mask, forgetting conveniently that God sees right through and
past any mask we might attempt. For God we can be the ‘faithful church worker’
or the ‘daily pray-er’ or the ‘efficient pastor’. Those may all be correct and
parts of us. However, what God sees is “beloved child”.
In the First Letter to the
church in Corinth, Paul says that all attributes of the church (and of
each of us) is important. “Now if the foot should say, “Because I am
not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop
being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I
do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the
body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If
the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God
has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to
be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are
many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to
the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t
need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are
indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with
special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special
modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put
the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that
there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal
concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one
part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Corinthians: 12: 15-26)
All of our personality parts
are important and valid, and need to be affirmed. It is easy to try to hide the
things about ourselves that we don’t like by constructing a mask that is
‘acceptable’. All Hallows Eve (Halloween), All Saints Day and All Souls Day
(October 31, November 1 and 2, respectively) is a time to remember the ‘saints’
of the church. ALL the women and men who have gone before us in the faith, not
just those who happen to have the title ‘Saint’ attached to their name. You are
a saint of God, and I am a saint of God. Let’s celebrate the image of God in
one another and try to put down our masks sometimes.
What is your favorite mask?
Can you develop a mask that shows you as a beloved child, a saint, of God?
This week try to look beyond
the masks others have constructed to see and love the real saint of God.
