Masks Created by FEAR

What if we advertised all of our darkness and struggles on a billboard? I think there'd be less of a problem in the world when it comes to facades, transparency, and honesty. So many of the youth from camp, some of which I still keep in touch with, they feel so alone in the world. They feel like nobody else is struggling. Nobody could ever understand what they're going through. Everyone else has it better than them. It amazes me for a moment, that they could be so self-focused. And, then I think... Wait a second, no wonder they feel this way. When you go to church on Sunday and Wednesday, everyone seems to be doing great. Everyone's dressed in their finest and smiling. And this is the image that young people and adults have of how they're supposed to feel inside. The reality is that most people do not expose themselves at church, much less in public. They keep up an image that makes people think they are OK. Wow, what an example to follow. This creates a pattern for kids to mimic exactly what they saw their parents or older adults do. And it also creates a pattern for destruction.

I think this mindset is a lie we all have fallen for at some point in time. If I expose what's really going on, then what will people think of me? They'll think I'm a failure. They'll think less of me and my family. They'll ignore me. They won't talk to me anymore. In fact, I could lose my job, m friends, my social status. Let me tell you something, the friends you'll lose are probably prideful and superficial. The social status means nothing, because nobody in society is your final judge. You wind up stuck in bad situations and wonder why your lot in life is so crappy. Nobody ever knows what's going on, so nobody tries to help you. And FEAR cripples you. That FEAR holds you back. You don't heal, and you don't progress.

I grew up with this fear. Fear of people I fellowshipped with. What they would think, how I needed to look and act in front of them, and how I needed to protect my crap from ever being exposed. What a big fat mistake!!! I was one of those kids at camp as a teen (16) who finally opened up at camp when I was away from society for a little bit. That's when I first surrendered my life to G-d. Even then, I didn't tell people about that because I had already been b-tized in public at age 9. So, I guess the world that reads my Blog knows now! What if we actually had a society and setting where we could bare burdens with each other openly? Not only inside of a building, facility, or organization... But in our daily lives walking around in this world. That, my friends, would be revolutionary in America I think.

If you're scared that your friends will think you're a sinner... then I hope you see the irony in that statement alone. Knowing that we have all fallen short and have shortcomings, it's foolish for anyone to ever have thought that this person or that person had it all together. Ever. Because nobody will ever have it all together in this life but J3sus himself.

How do we fix it? We say and sing come just as you are, but do we mean it? How can we lift each other up if we don't even know what needs lifting up? How can we help to hold each other accountable for things unless we open up? And lastly, why on earth would people open up in the first place if they KNEW that when they opened up, they'd get judged, shunned, and socially ostracized? Heck, J3sus got judged, shunned, socially ostracized, beaten and murdered for following truth and going against the flow. Bring it on! If people decide to kill me for it, at least I will go down as a woman who was fighting for integrity. 

I cannot change the world or people individually, but I can make a change in myself and how I view and act towards the world and people in it. 

I say forget the politics. Ditch them for something worthwhile in this life and the next. And by all means, show people the grace that G-d has so freely lavished upon you. Building each other up! Uniting as one body! And changing the world by first letting your FEAR be washed away by the same blood that washed away your sins.

Sorry for all the serious posts. These things have just been on my mind lately. Rants if you wish.