Year-round Trick or Treating

I just ran across this article I wrote in 1999--wow! that was a long time ago! So I thought I'd post it for the sake of nostalgia. Enjoy! (or don't, depending on how it strikes you.)

On October 31, all around the country, children of all ages will be putting on disguises. There will be princesses, goblins, ghosts, clowns, mummies, pirates and more. Some will be clever, intricate and attentive to detail. Others will be simple and inexpensive, a merit only to child-like creativity. All very different in appearance but the same in purpose: To disguise the identity of its host and provide the anonymity needed to accomplish the evening’s quest.

I marvel at the striking similarities of this season’s tradition to human behavior. How often is the mask of hypocrisy donned to hide the true state of the heart? The costumes shift and change, but it’s all just an attempt to disguise the condition of the soul. Some of these disguises are intricate and detailed—a lifetime of pretense. Others are defensive and reflexive—a conditioned response of the sinful nature searching for a quick and easy escape. But these disguises are not just paraded in the eyes of men; we foolishly cling to the hope that somehow God cannot see through the façade. Finally, when this masquerade has run its course, we find it difficult to distinguish between what is truth and what is a lie. Sound familiar? Just look around you –or inside you.

“What can I do about it?” you might ask—and I’m glad you did. Well, as far as the masks that others wear . . . absolutely nothing. Now your own veneer, that’s a different story. There is something to be said about living a life of transparency. That is, being the same person alone in a private room that you are in public view. And maybe, just maybe if you strip off your camouflage, others will follow suit.
Then, “we can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. . .” 2 Corinthians 1:12

Let’s determine to leave “trick or treating” to Halloween.

~Jeremiah