Masquerade

Masks are used in a large variety of settings.

Halloween is the first thing that comes to mind. Usually, the mask matches the outfit and its sole intention is to hide the identity of the person.

Then we have Mardi Gras or Carnival, and although the mask can hide the identity, often, it's also used to "enhance" or instill intrigue and allure. They are often decadent and flashy. They are meant to draw attention.

Medical masks are used to protect the wearer from germs and bacteria or to provide oxygen. Or masks used to treat the skin like facials.

Masks used in robberies prevent identification, some more successfully than others.

And more: masks for breathing, masks for theatre, masks for ceremonial rituals, and masks for sports (goalies, catchers, lacrosse players, football players, to name a few). And of course, there are gas masks to protect someone from breathing deadly fumes.

There is even a "death mask" which is a face "cast" in plaster, often of a dead person or a "life mask" used by artists in sculpture.

They are both ceremonial and practical, but in all cases, they refer to the face. I believe it is a statement of the face's vulnerability. The face, in and of itself, is a story teller, through the eyes, the lift of an eyebrow, the shape of the mouth, furrows of the forehead, the showing of teeth, in a smile or in a grimace. The face is a communicator.

So, tell me, what does the symbolic mask cover? Pastor Jess said on Sunday that it hides our motives, our intentions, our truths.

In some cases, we put on these kinds of masks intentionally, perhaps out of fear that we won't be accepted as we are or out of a personal agenda that we developed privately. Sometimes, we wear a mask over our inner hearts out of protection, just like those medical masks. We don't want anyone to see inside, to touch the tender spots, to blunder in and cause harm. We may not want to be hurt again.

Unfortunately, if we wear these masks too long, we may forget how to take them off.

There was a catch phrase some years ago that "it takes a village to raise a child." And I say, it takes a "village" or community to help one another remove old masks. It's unfamiliar territory. There has to be a willingness to try new things, to use new language, to suspend judgments, to feel out of joint even.

I would not recommend ripping a familiar mask off like a band-aid. It's too harsh and there can be bleeding unchecked. Work with a friend, a partner, a person of integrity and trust, a brother or sister who may have done some of this work along the way. Be gentle with yourself.

Oh, and by the way, be gentle with others. They could be pulling the corners back of their own masks, just to test the waters.

Irmgarde Brown
Blogger, Writer, Librarian,
Follower of Christ, Woeful
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Restore Church :: 616 Ontario St., Havre de Grace :: Sundays at 9, 10:15 & 11:30 a.m.

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