The stadium of life
Played out each day
Brings death to some and life to others
Both physical, emotional, and spiritual
Each person comes
Either presenting a mask so no one can see the true heart
The pain, the tears, the insecurities, the sins (realized or not)
That lies beneath
Or
They come open and alive with no mask at all – real people
Who are not swayed by the World
Who recognize their sin nature
They stand for what they believe and try daily to walk in the Truth
They plot along knowing God is always there
He can hide them
He can instruct them
In right conversation and actions
He holds their hands and is the bower of their heads
He listens as Father and Lover of His Child
He speak truth and encouragement for all they are go through
He heals
Wraps his arms around them
Dries their tears
Bring joy bubbling up through them
He is the Lord of the Dance of Life
He is the one that sees beneath the mask
He is the one that says
Leave that mask behind
Trust in Me
I will be your partner come dance with me through life
When things get rough
Stand on my shoes
Daily I will dance with you
Draw near He says I want to hear your voice
I’ll carry you through
Do not choose to dance with another
For I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light
Rena Oynes
thedailylily.com 
Rena, your poetic prose is like the culmination of David’s many psalms. I am reading CS Lewis’ book “Till We Have Faces” and this reminds me of some of the things in his theme. Thanks for reminding us of Invitation To The Dance!
Good reminder that choosing your ‘dance partner’ sure is important! Life becomes a masquerade ball when you and others dance with a mask. Who’s voice is that behind the mask?
Sara’s April 16 blog talked about the vital importance of knowing the Good Shepherds voice, listening to it and following Him.
It also brought to mind a quote from one of Sara’s books, “THe Dance of Healing, The Ultra Healing Spirit Comes from Within”: “Choose your partner and prepare to dance! Life or Death, Fruit or Poisons. What words are you speaking to yourself that poisons your soul? What words are you not speaking to yourself that keeps your fruit from yielding full growth? Oops! Remember you are listening to the Word!”
I think we can easily find the answer to these thoughts in Matthew 11:17 NLT
‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t mourn.’ vs 16 gave the question “”To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends.” So I played and they would not dance!!!!
And, vs. 19 gives a clear answer with a wide lens view, “…but wisdom is showed to be right by its deeds?
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on Matthew Chapter 11:16:24
” Christ reflects on the scribes and Pharisees, who had a proud conceit of themselves. He likens their behaviour to children’s play, who being out of temper without reason, quarrel with all the attempts of their fellows to please them, or to get them to join in the plays for which they used to assemble. The cavils of worldly men are often very trifling and show great malice. Something they have to urge against every one, however excellent and holy. Christ, who was undefiled, and separate from sinners, is here represented as in league with them, and polluted by them. The most unspotted innocence will not always be a defence against reproach. Christ knew that the hearts of the Jews were more bitter and hardened against his miracles and doctrines, than those of Tyre and Sidon would have been; therefore their condemnation would be the greater. The Lord exercises his almighty power, yet he punishes none more than they deserve, and never withholds the knowledge of the truth from those who long after it.”
That last part of Matthew Henry’s quote…”never withholds the the KNOWLEDGE of the TRUTH from those who LONG after it” speaks volumes about those of us who say we want the truth but when it is presented or shown or spoken there is always a self-defense. And that is well understood in the ‘manner-of-man-spirit” syndrome. We have donned our masks of how we think about ourselves, how we consider others, how our ‘theology” drives us and and we strive not to be unmasked of our opinions or conjectures, our suppositions and interpretations. Longing for truth is divine. And only Divinity can present the truth. So the truth can indeed set us free but only if we have the KNOWLEDGE of it, ACKNOWLEDGE IT and make a decision of what to do with it…TRUTH.
After thedailylilies conversation of yesterday – I have reflected on the mask.
It is a terrible thing to walk with a mask of self deception in which we think the matters of the heart are concealed but everyone around you can see through it. They may not say it, but they know. Psalms 64: 5-6 says we can’t fool God about our heart. Jer. 17:9-10 says that what God says is in our hearts is accurate. Once the mask is thrown away through Jesus’ healing which may take place through deliverance, counseling, prayer and a deep desire of the person to change, we can dance with Jesus. After healing, then we best heed Proverbs 4:23 to guard our hearts diligently! and Phil. 4: 8-9 – Think on good things and do what is right!
Rena, also, when we are self deceived we hear but we don’t hear. We see but we don’t see. I think that others do tell us but we just don’t hear because we don’t want to hear. Because hearing and seeing is another big valley to cross.
Rev. 3:17-19 tells how the Laodecian Christians were spiritually self-deceived. And, He called upon them to open the windows of their hearts and see. What a horrid to think you are doing so well and realize, ooops, not so. Makes me think of the smoke coming from the Icelandic volcano spewing ash into the air of many nations. Black ash will blind you.
1 Corinthians 4:7-21, Paul has great love for this church and He shows it by action most of don’t necessarily like. But, it might be just the antidote for self-deception.
Sara, it sounds as if self-deception is a choice of ours? (“We see but we don’t see. we just don’t hear because we don’t want to hear”) Lord, help us to be proactive, in keeping “the windows of our hearts open” to You and Your Word.
Also, we feel that the way we perceive ourselves is the way we really are. And that others don’t understand the “way we are” So we continue in our charade, hoping eventually to convince the whole earth and all who are upon it that ‘this is how I am.’ And we can’t understand why others can’t see that. We make excuses for ourselves, such as, ‘well, others do this or that or the other so why am I corrected for doing this that and the other? That’s just the way I am.
In other cases we don’t want to be WHO WE ARE so we “BE” someone or something else. We contrive & stage a scenario; we place all the props and costumes in place; we create the correct masks for each scene and we perform that character which we THINK we are. But, it’s a house of cards.
It is built on the sinking sand and when the winds of adversity blow, and there are many our disguise and sham is revealed. And most of the time even though others see it, some of us still miss it.
Open our eyes that we may see that no matter of what ilk we are that Christ died for us.
Gary taught this morning, again, about the only foundation we need is Christ Jesus and the Rock of Revelation upon which to stand. Everything else is make-believe until we are called into accountability before the face of Christ.
In CS Lewis’ fable, TILL WE HAVE FACES, the daughter who becomes queen and who is ugly-faced wears a veil throughout her life to mask her homliness, because she can not deal with the hated remarks and insults thrown at her, not only by others but also by her father, the king. As she ages and comes toward the end of her life she reaches some rather important assessments of her behavior. Her remarks carry deep insight into what we are discussing here @ thedailylily.org, this blog. I quote the now elderly, homely queen.”Then a new thought came to me. My veil was no longer a means to be unknown. IT REVEALED ME! All knew the veiled queen. My disguise would not be to go bareface. There was hardly anyone who had seen me unveiled. So for the first time in many years; showed that face that many had said, more truly than they could know, was TOO DREADFUL to be seen……Perhaps if they saw me (and my distorted face) they would worship me. I had become what the people and the priest called ‘holy’.”
I wonder….what was her true identity? Was it the veiled mystery woman or was it the ugly woman? And just whom had she decieved with her comouflage all those years?
I understand that Lewis had wanted to title this work, “Bareface.” He was discouraged from doing this. Also, this was pre-christian writing….a struggle to identity I guess.
I agree, Needles, a choice?
CS Lewis in his pre-Christian era reminds me of what Jesus said to the rich Young ruler….”you are not far from the Kingdom of God.
I have always heard that the face shows your all. Face shows all the uglies inside. I can see why one wants to wear a mask. But, I don’t think possible. The uglies always slip right out when you least expect it. That how I see it.
“The uglies always slip right out when you least expect it”. Seems like when the pressure’s on, out they pop.
This reminds me of of the refining process of heating ore to get silver…when the heat’s turned on, the impurities, embedded but hidden from the eye, rise to the top and become visible. At this point, my understanding is that they have to be skimmed off and discarded or nothing changes and you never get silver.
“The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.” Proverbs 17:3
Debi,
Thanks for the scripture in Proverbs. Read with me the footnotes for this verse: “It takes intense heat to purify gold and silver. Similarly, it often takes the heat of trials for the Christian to be purified. Through trials, God shows us what is in us and clears out anything that gets in the way of complete trust in him. Peter says, ‘These trials will show that our faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold–through your faith is far more precious than mere gold'(1Peter 1:7). So when tough times come your way, realize that God wants to use them to refine your faith and purify your heart.”
If any of us are going through a tough time now, this is sure encouraging. “God wants to use them to refine your faith and purify your heart.”
Rena, this is a beautiful poem. Wearing a mask is a false sense of secruity. Many people believe if they put on a mask, that they will be protected and hidden from the outside world. I believe this is a type of self-deception. I agree with Needles and Sara in saying ” self-deception is our choice.” I also agree with Debi in saying “when the pressure is on out pops the uglies.” The mask falls right off and reveals the face on the other side.The mask may work for the world but not for God. We can’t hid our face from Him. He will reveal even our darkest secrets.
Daily we get up, get ready for the day, put our mask on and walk out of the door ready to face the world with a mask. Hiding our hearts, hiding our hurts our failures from the world. Walking around thinking, I’m so glad I have this mask to hid my face. Never taking resposibility for our sins, our hurts, our actions. Making excuses for every action, always blaming someone else (even God) for our sinful nature, for our hurts, our pain. EXCUSE AFTER EXCUSE. MASK AFTER MASK. We are not fooling anyone especially GOD. We are just fooling ourselves. What is wrong with us. If we walk in a room full of people and we close our eyes, we don’t disappear and neither do the people in the room. When we open our eyes we are all still in the room. We need to open our eyes and stop making these excuses, step up to the plate and humble ourselves before our Lord. Throw the mask off and face God. Ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for letting our busy life come first before God. Foregiveness for blaming God for our messed up lives. Foregiveness for making ourselves an idol before God. We need to wake up and be the person God intends us to be, not what the world wants from us. We need to wake up and be true to our God and ourself. We need to wake up before God wakes us up.
Amen, preach, girl! I like the picture that frames our thinking you have given. Walk in a room close your eyes and you and the people disappear. Whoa, hold it Sara, CF said I didn’t and they didn’t disappear. OH, CF, you are such a spoiler of our deception.
Thank you, I really got a full dose of self-deception from your comments. Also, you gave the antidote for self-deception, wake-up. Open them dim-witted eyes before God opens them!
If we don’t open our dim-witted eyes God will not have mercy on us. If we walk around with our eyes closed we may open them and find that we are in Hell with no second chance to make things right. We are given many chances to do God’s Will, if we continue to do our will we may run out of chances. We may find ourselves burning for eternity. No hope for a second chance then. We got to make a change not only for the moment or for a day but forever. Our eternity is riding on it. Nothing is worth burning in Hell for eternity!!!
Some of us may open our eyes, but like Rip Van Winkle, it may be 20 years later. And just because, like Rip, we awake from our slumber, doesn’t mean we’ll change. Old Rip was a lazy bones and an excuse maker before he fell asleep and apparently things didn’t change after he opened his eyes. He went right back to his idle ways, not wanting to be accountable to anyone or anything, just lazy. And beside that the story says, “Rip was ready to attend to anybody’s business but his own.”
This is what chickenfarmer was saying…excuses, excuses. Busy life full of busybody. I guess Rip’s mask was his long beard.