Amazing Grace for a Painted Face

Amazing Grace for a Painted Face.

I have never liked clowns. I don’t know why, I just don’t like them. I am not sure if I need a reason to not like something, but in this case, I don’t have one. I do not like clowns. I am well aware that clowns are supposed to be there to uplift our souls and to lighten our loads through laughter and fun; they even present us with an image of encouragement. However, I have never felt encouraged by one. I have felt terrified and suspicious, but never encouraged. When I look at one, what I see is a person behind a mask trying to be something he or she is not, a pretender. Thus, I do not trust them.

This is the essence of the word hypocrite: someone playing a part that is not actually them - an actor. In truth, however, the only difference between the one with the painted face and the one without paint is that the one without is harder to recognize. But make no mistake, everyone is pretending.

Do we really know one another, or do we just know what they want us to know? All of us have a, “face” which we hide behind. We tend to think of this exterior as a protection from others who have the potential to hurt us but as one very wise lady told me, “weakness is like blood to sharks.” However, its far more likely that we put on this image in order to stop the real us from coming out. The heart can be an ugly thing and we aren’t really sure what will come out if we allow it to. So, we keep it hidden, unwilling to allow a crack to happen for fear of the uncontrollable flood that would happen as a result. So we are content to walk around with a painted on face because life is easier that way.

                So, what are we to do with this information? Do we ask people to stop hiding their true selves? No, that won’t help. Do we ask people to go and do something so that they feel different? No, that only creates religious people. All I would suggest is that we simply remind people that there is one who already knows our hearts, and he has chosen to love us anyway. There is no reason to hide it from him. He already sees it, and the only way it is going to be healed is to get to know him more. The heart is exposed, the mask is wiped away, and the pain is healed in the presence of him.

                2 Peter 1:2-3   “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,  3 According as his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who has called us to glory and virtue:”

Be Blessed,

Brian Dodson