The Art of the Mask

About 16 years ago, a movie came out that was, well, quite ridiculous. It starred a rising hot actor Jim Carrey and an unknown at the time rising actress Cameron Diaz.

From zero to hero, is a tag line from the movie's trailer.

The synopsis of the movie is this: ordinary man, who can't say no, who works hard, to never catches a break, finds a mas, in a river, and when he puts it on, this ordinary man, suddenly becomes and entirely different person, a superhero type person.

Honestly, this movie is quite obnoxious for is predictable and there isn't much depth to the humor. However, it was one of the movies which launched Jim Carrey's comical career. Oh where would we be with out the Mask?

Stanley Ipkiss is the man Carrey plays who has become discontented with is life and how nothing seems to work out for him. Perhaps he is a little reserved and not as assertive as he should be, but he tries to be nice to everyone he meets. He lives alone and his closest companion is a dog. The fact of the matter is, Stanley Ipkiss isn't much of a social person and no one would consider him to a social butterfly....

Until he finds the mask.

This wooden, green colored mask, Ipkiss finds in the river has these miraculous powers which transforms him into somebody...something else. This once quiet, respectful, reserved banker, soon becomes an arrogant, out of control, thing who is inconsiderate and disrespectful to all of those around him. Not only does his face change from normal to bright green, but his entire persona changes--his personality and everything. This mask, this thing Ipkiss puts his face in to hide his anxiety and fear, turns him into someone, more like something, who is nothing like who he really is. This mask deceives those who know him and it even begins to mislead Ipkiss himself.

All because Ipkiss didn't want to wrestle with the realities of his life.

Ipkiss didn't know how to wrestle with these realities.

Ipkiss compared himself to those around him and wasn't pleased with who he was.

So he got this mask.

Became an entirely different person.

Began to hurt those around him.

Finally, someone had the courage to tell him, you don't need the mask in order to be loved...

In the end, all we really want is to be ourselves.

Free from masks.

Free from expectations.

Free from stereotypes.

Free from prejudices.

Free from the labels people put on us.

Free to be ourselves.

This Sunday we will complete our masks by reflecting and doing the difficult task of self-exploration and listening to what Thomas Merton calls the inner voice within. Too often we only see ourselves by the way others see us. Literally speaking here: who we are is defined by which sport we play, which car we drive, which group of people we hang out with, which brand of clothes we wear, which movies we like, and this list is endless. We put too much emphasis on the exterior of our lives and give too many people too much power over us.

It is our hope then as we begin to listen to the still small voice and become aware of our own poverty within, we will begin to rediscover those things which make us who we are and become rich in hope and peace. Instead of searching for ourselves in the 'doings' of our lives, we want to be found in the 'beings' of our days.

Thomas Merton says, "We are warmed by fire, not by the smoke of the fire. We are carried over the sea by a ship, not by the wake of the ship. So too, what we are is to be sought in the invisible depths of our own being, not in our outward reflection in our own acts. We must find our real selves not in the froth stirred up by the impact of our being upon the beings around us, but in our own soul which is the principle of our acts."

Come then Sunday night as we continue to walk with Christ, holding ourselves up to his mirror and seeing how we have conformed ourselves to the likeness of Christ. Come ready to wrestle, to explore, to pray, to contemplate, and to the difficult task of being ourselves and not being anyone else. Come ready to contemplate why we wear our masks and who tells us to wear them. Come with the good expectations that in the end, we will see who we really are, a child of God, who is in God, who is in us.

Peace to you all.