Masks ~ Affixing the Iron

Greetings Dear Reader,

I like to read.  When I was young and less socially inclined I would read for hours alone in my room.  Then and still one of my favorite authors was Alexander Dumas.  His stories of the Musketeers, Edmond Dantès, and Louis XIV have entertained me over and over throughout the years.

In The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later, Dumas tells the story of Louis XIV and his twin brother who is imprisoned and forced to wear an iron mask to hide his identity.  I will not spoil the story for you.  It is an excellent read.  In fact, I find all of Dumas’ novels great companions when I need to stir my imagination.  This one, however, so fits my thoughts at this time that I re-read it last evening.

One of the great sins we visit upon each other is forcing people we claim to love to wear masks.  We tell children not to feel a certain way.  We make people behave in a certain manner to be accepted.  We meter how others may express their feelings, needs, and concerns.

I am not saying that we should not teach politeness and civility.  I am saying that we should not force others to live a lie.  We must not, even in the name of good, tell others how they must be toward others when it is a lie.  We can be honest and be loving and kind.  We can be angry and not be mean or violent. 

Too often I have congress with people who say everything is “fine” through venomous words and scouting faces.  Worse yet, they force a smile that flashes and fades in an instant hoping to leave an image of credible civility that is actually a lie.  We both know it is a lie and they wish to force us into and iron mask of denial.

It became a matter of survival to read these masks and those who would force me to wear them when I was young.  For a time, I adopted this and tried to fit my mask to others.  It was a catastrophic and harmful failure. 

We cannot do what is right and force others to lie.  We can fit iron to their faces and then ask them why they do not smile.  We cannot force a smile from them and either of us believe that there is truth and love in it.  We go too many places where we must pick up the mask of that place at the door, affix on their say so, and become less that we are to get along.

I must create space where one may be whomever he or she is.  I will insist on kindness and love but the person must be free of masks that hinder being accepted for who they truly are. 

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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