As a child I loved The Lone Ranger. Maybe I haven’t grown up yet because I still like him. The Lone Ranger was always the fastest draw, the best in a fight and quick to help the underdog. He never shot anyone, though pistols flew from the hands of the “bad guys” when he drew. The one most unique thing about the Lone Ranger is that he always wore a black mask.
Times are different now. The world is a much more complicated place. When I get into trouble, I can’t just call the Lone Ranger for help; he has retired, and to my knowledge no one has taken his place, though Clint Eastwood has tried. No, life doesn’t leave a lot of room for heroes like the Lone Ranger. The fact is it seems that everyone is wearing a mask of one sort or another.
Masks, or facades as we often call them, can serve a useful purpose. Sometimes they are professional facades like the white coat of the doctor or the black shirt of the priest or even the long hair of the rock band member or the torn yellow shirt of Hulk Hogan. The facades we wear are intended to present to others a particular image of ourselves to encourage acceptance or avoid criticism or judgment. We like to be thought of as “together” or “on top of things” and “well liked.” So, we put on a smiling face, even when we don’t feel like smiling; say “fine” when people ask how we are doing on the way going into the post office, even when things are downright rotten. After all, what would people think if we told them exactly who we were, what we thought and did, and how we felt? You get the picture, the only person still talking to you would be your counselor. The truth is, human life is pretty fragile. We depend on community acceptance and support. It’s essential to our well-being. But acceptance has its limits. To make certain we don’t exceed those limits, we hide that part of ourselves we perceive to be most undesirable, most vulnerable. We are who we are but who can we trust with that truth?
Like the Lone Ranger, we all need a few trusted friends; someone who can see us when the mask is down and still love us. However, even best friends come and go through the years. There is one who has promised to stay with us through the thick and thin, the ups and downs; mask on, mask off. That one is the Christ Jesus. He knew the heart of the woman at the well and loved her still; he knew the fear of the disciples and loved them still. He knows each one of us even better than we know ourselves and he loves us beyond description. As the church, His body, Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit that we too might love beyond the mask.
Father Bill Myrick
