Of Masks and Men

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, "Have everyone leave my presence!" So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household heard about it. Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still living?" But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence. (Genesis 45:1-3)

Halloween is a holiday of horror. It’s always had its shady side of divination, demons and darkness but lately it’s gotten a facelift due to good old American greed and gluttony. We love to consume (and costume) so Halloween is perfectly pitched for appetites and masks. It’s an opportunity to hide behind rubber, makeup and spirit gum to escape the true terror of our own realities. Halloween gives us permission to mask our lives with plastic as penance for the other 364 days where reality is truly clouded.

So what happens when the real self bleeds through? What happens when the makeup melts? Or the façade falls? Or the mask is moved? Sometimes we reveal on purpose. We’ve all had that trick or treat moment when we lift our plastic mask to someone just to say, “Look, it’s me! It’s really me!” Our costume may cloak our identity but underneath we’re still just crazy kids…no matter our age. Adults love to trick or treat, too.

Joseph’s Halloween moment happened after years of trial and tribulation. It was the culmination of a life lived on purpose. Joseph knew who he was deep down inside. He didn’t need Egyptian fashion or Pharaoh’s power to impress. Joseph was already beside himself, literally. He was about to explode with emotion. So he orders his entourage to beat it. No sooner does the door close and Joseph loses it. This man who survived pit and prison is bawling like a baby. His weeping and wailing could be heard on the streets. His brothers were blown away. Who was this guy? We’re the ones who should be shedding tears. Is he crazy? Has he dived into the deep end? It’s no wonder they were “terrified at his presence.” You would be too. Here’s a powerful ruler who controls your family’s destiny and he’s an emotional wreck. The brothers didn’t need a nut job on top of everything else. It was tough enough to make sense of this whole sorry episode rationally. If lunacy guides the discussion nobody will make it back to dad.

And then Joseph draws near and (between sobs) takes off the mask. “I (sob) am (sob) Joseph (wiping his tears). Is (takes a breath) my father (sob) still (sob) living?” The brothers were stunned. Mortified. Frozen in their tracks. Years of denial had convinced them Joseph was dead. So who was this guy? Even if Joseph was alive, he was a slave not a ruler. Is this a joke? The tragic twist is Joseph’s revelation doesn’t elicit joy but terror. You’d think this revelation would be welcome.
The real truth? We all wear masks. Sure, some are manufactured by years of abuse, alienation or abandonment. Many people have built an elaborate emotional walls to prevent further pain and rejection. Other masks are momentary. We don them to survive a sticky situation or nerve-wracking activity. In the church we’ve made Halloween a weekly worship ritual. Most people wear masks to church to hide their true identities and to cloak their reality. We smile and sing and then beat it to the parking lot to ditch the makeup. Perhaps someday Church can become “real” again.
It also hurts to remove the mask. If you wear one long enough it gets under your skin and you easily confuse the facade with your real face. It’s painful to peel away the masquerade. Peel it off anyway. You may do some serious sobbing. Remove it nevertheless. You may even create confusion with loved ones. Ditch the mask regardless. What you lose in face will be gained in freedom.

After all, God didn’t make us with (or even) for masks. So let me be real with you. I’ve had my share of mask moments. I’ll confess I’ve cloaked myself in clever costumes, whether as professor or pastor. I often use humor to hide my pain. Maybe it’s due to years of hurtful remarks. Small people get tired of being small. All I know is there’s peace in peeling off the plastic and freedom is losing the façade. I’d rather be the real deal than some cheap replica. God designed me for authenticity. I am what I am. And that’s very good!



NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON AUTHENTICITY:

"No one man can, for any considerable time, wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which is the true one." (Hawthorne)

"Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway." (Mother Teresa)

"Just be what you are and speak from your guts and heart - it's all a man has." (Hubert Humphrey)

"To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." (William Shakespeare)


Father, You created me to be real. No pretenses. No masks. No facades or falsehoods. So forgive me for my moments of failure when I prefer to mask my reality with something (or even someone) that I am not. Help me this day to be authentic, to be real, to be wholly as You have designed. Amen.

ImPalin' Sarah and Raisin' McCain

Then Judah went up to him and said: "Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself. My lord asked his servants, 'Do you have a father or a brother?' And we answered, 'We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother's sons left, and his father loves him.' "Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.' And we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.' But you told your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.' …"So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy's life, sees that the boy isn't there, he will die…Your servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father…"Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers. How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father." (Genesis 44:18-34)

Alaska is a long way from Washington, D.C., in more ways than one. Just ask Sarah Palin, the young, fresh governor from the frozen tundra. Despite an 80% approval rate—which is unbelievable given today’s political climate—the nation’s watchdogs and media elite have had a field day with her choice to join John McCain on the Republican ticket. She’s been vetted, paraded, skewered and toasted all in one week. I hope you didn’t miss her national “coming out” at the Republican Convention. Her speech reinvigorated the conservative base, challenged the status quo and sent tremors through the liberal left. As Palin confessed, the only difference between a “hockey mom and a pit bull is the lipstick.” Palin may not be the reincarnation of Ronald Reagan for the Grand Old Party, but she’s no B-list actress either. She’s the real deal.

What’s truly remarkable is how this ordinary, obscure woman made her meteoric rise onto the national political stage. Born in Idaho and raised in Wasilla, AK, Palin was a champion basketball player known affectionately as “Sarah Barracuda” for her team leadership and Christian witness. She’s a former beauty queen, television sports reporter and just your average mom until the day she ran for City Council. Palin’s no-nonsense political prowess and leadership made her a formidable foe, especially on issues related to fiscal irresponsibility, taxation, abortion, religion and gun control. In 1996, she beat an incumbent mayor and spent the next 10 years being groomed for a higher calling as Alaska’s governor. Two years later John McCain tags her as a running mate. Palin is a committed Christian “hockey mom” of five children with the right stuff and spunk to vault the senior senator to the White House.

You just never know where life will lead you.

Joseph and Sarah Palin have a lot in common. They both understand character assassination, setbacks, the bleeding edge and the favor of a pick. Pharaoh vetted an accused Hebrew rapist and named him just a heartbeat away from the Egyptian throne (a decision that surely wagged media tongues and ignited political fire from critics). Of course, protest was futile and might earn a quick desert burial.

Joseph is no Egyptian insider. He doesn’t have pedigree or wealth or social security. He earned his master’s degree as a slave. He’s as at home with thugs and thieves as he is with princes and presidents. Joseph understands the little guy. He’s been on the bottom looking up. He knows hunger and hate, pain and pressure. In fact, he probably missed life as a nomad rancher. Big city Egyptian culture has its perks but some days the sound of bleating sheep is attractive. Joseph, like Sarah Palin, is just an ordinary guy with an extraordinary calling. And as with Palin, he has his private family matters and, sometimes, that means the need to raise some Cain. In this particular episode, Judah pleads with Joseph (still not recognizing his own brother) to change his mind about Benjamin. “This’ll kill dad!” Judah begs, “the boy is his only hope in life.” Judah knows if he goes home without Ben, his father Jacob will have nothing left to live for. It’s a situation pregnant with possibilities.

Ultimately, Sarah Palin, Judah, Jacob and Joseph remind us that we can’t see everything coming. We can be equally blindsided and blessed by life. Sometimes bad things and good things happen. Sometimes daughters make mistakes. Sometimes brothers create pain. Sometimes daddies die. Sometimes mommies lead. Sometimes we get picked by princes and sometimes elected mayor of a small town in the middle of nowhere. It’s not where we start that matters; in the end it’s how we finish.

And how we live and lead every moment in-between.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON LEADERSHIP:

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” (Harold R. McAlindon)

“Go to the people. Learn from them. Live with them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. The best of leaders when the job is done, when the task is accomplished, the people will say we have done it ourselves.” (Lao Tzu)

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” (John Quincy Adams)

“A leader is a dealer in hope.” (Napoleon Bonaparte)

Father, I fully sense within me Your Call and Desire. Help me in this hour of hesitation to walk boldly forward and lead with integrity, insight and inspiration. I may never partner with presidents or dine with dignitaries, but regardless of my destiny I simply seek Your Peace and Protection. Amen.

It Takes A Thief

Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. Joseph said to them, "What is this you have done? Don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?" "What can we say to my lord?" Judah replied. "What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants' guilt. We are now my lord's slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup." But Joseph said, "Far be it from me to do such a thing! Only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave. The rest of you, go back to your father in peace." (Genesis 44:14-17)

I’ll confess that I’m a reality television junkie. Ever since Cops hit the small screen, I’ve been captivated. I love game show reality (Survivor), business reality (The Apprentice), family reality (Small People Big World), feel-good reality (Extreme Home Makeover) and extreme job reality (Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers).

Several months back my son hooked me on a Discovery channel show called “It Takes A Thief.” This riveting hour of heist and home security steals the attention. The premise is simple. Two reformed crooks case neighborhoods for a home begging to be robbed. The show’s producers then persuade the owners to let “John” pilfer the place while the cameras roll. In less than ten minutes, he can lift and loot jewelry, electronics, cash, cars, boats and motorcycles. The accomplice “Matt” then debriefs the raid and sets the family up with top-flight home security. The moral: it takes a thief to know a thief (and stop them).

Similarly, Joseph was quite familiar with thievery. His brothers stole his relationship with dad and pawned it for a pit into slavery. A desperate housewife robbed him of his role as Potiphar’s finest butler. As a prisoner, Joseph conversed with crooks and cheats and surely learned their larcenies. Joseph also bet his brothers were still stealing affections and purposely framed them in typical Hollywood fashion. Framed them like he was framed. Accused them (falsely) like he was accused (falsely). Benjamin was the pawn in the plot as Joseph envisioned a greater outcome. Dear old dad thinks he’s dead (and probably wouldn’t believe the brothers if Joseph was outed or risk his life for a lie). His siblings are clueless to his identity (which only has to hurt Joseph more). So the only way to manufacture a family reunion is to create an international crisis. Consequently, Ben is fingered with a theft. The brothers, especially Judah (who’s responsible for the boy), get the emotional hijack and learn Benny will be forced into slavery. In reality, Joseph hatches a heist to steal his dad back into his world. He can’t go to Jacob but he can bring Jacob to Egypt through his beloved Ben.

Like I said, it takes a thief to understand theft. I don’t know about you, but some days I sense the losses in my life. Relationships I never developed now stolen by time, distance or death. Roads not taken now robbed of opportunity. Choices not selected now victims of circumstance, pilfered of possibility. Sometimes I’ve been robbed blind by life, especially sinful habits of the heart and unchecked vices, failing to recognize the damage until years later. Sometimes I’ve been pick-pocketed by pain, crisis or disaster. If I’m not careful, I’ll resort to stealing time or looting friendships to my advantage. And God knows that even in my innocence, I can be falsely framed, accused and sentenced to situations I never saw coming.

Unlike Joseph, we many never have an opportunity to avenge the bandits in life. If you live for revenge, you’ll only rob yourself of peace, gratitude, love, joy and a good night’s sleep anyway. Some muggings will never make sense and when you allow the crime to crimp your life it only gives more power to the burglar. Let go of what you no longer own.

It may take a thief to thwart a theft, but Joseph learned a richer truth. Sometime that which is stolen might eventually become a gift. Our losses may be for our progress and gain. The pain caused by one of life’s larcenies might serve to strengthen the soul. Suffering wounds all heels.

We all know what it’s like to lose.

Thankfully, Joseph reveals how to steal back an occasional victory.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON LOSS AND SUFFERING:

"The real proof of spiritual poverty is to patiently endure the loss of worldly goods and without any regret when it pleases our heavenly Father that we should be despoiled of them." (John Calvin)

"If the first mark of a true and living church is love, the second is suffering. The one is naturally consequent on the other. A willingness to suffer proves the genuineness of love." (John Stott)

"The deep meaning of the cross of Christ is that there is no suffering on earth that is not borne by God." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Father, it takes a Dad to understand a son. It takes Jesus--who walked this planet as flesh and blood--to know my weaknesses, my faults and my pain. I am grateful that I serve a Living God who can feel my losses, sense my suffering, restore the joy stolen by life and equip my heart with a security system to keep the evil one--the ultimate thief--from breaking and entering my innermost soul. Amen.