Face

I've had an interesting week. A very, very good week, don't get me wrong, but with an interesting revelation. Since last Friday, I got an awesome opportunity to share my story [testimony, past, auto-biography- whatever you wanna call it] with a friend, and I also got to hear what's going on in the lives of some people around me. Basically, there's been a lot of story-telling going on... and all of the stories involved a lot of pain, both past and current.

It's remarkable to think about, but if you stop to really listen to what's going on in people's lives, a great number of them are hurting. Your friends, my friends... frankly, maybe you or me. Our society's fast pace has made it really easy to ask people "how you doin?" without actually caring, or having to listen to, how someone is actually doing.

So the pained people walk around pained, and those who happen to be doing alright never even know about the pain. And it's tearing them up on the inside- they're filled with thoughts like "I don't know what to do... Why does this have to happen to me? Where is God in all of this?" Speaking from experience, the hopelessness can get a little frightening. These are hurting people.

Then you have those who HAVE been hurt. The past pain. This week, as I shared with a friend some of the things I've been through, I realized how much hurt I've really had to overcome. There have been troubles that, even after I went through them, left marks on me that took months to erase. In fact, to be totally honest, I'm still erasing some marks from years ago. And so are most people who've been really hurt.

This is all going on right now.

When I look around my campus I see a lot of normal, happy people. Then I take the time to sit down with one of those people, and hear about how much they're hurting and how confused they are. Or how confused they've been and have finally found the right track after a lot of trouble. It's crazy!

Sometimes when I sit down to talk to someone, I find that I'm the first or only person to hear about what's going on in their lives. What's going on, that people feel like they need to hide their pain? Why are we content to have a generation of hurt, broken people as long as it's covered by a mask of normalcy? When is enough going to be enough, and we're going to start to be real?

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

James 5:16

I don't know what that verse says to you, but to me it SCREAMS the need for "real-ness" and de-masking in our lives. I mean, think about it. The verse says "confess your sins to EACH OTHER and pray for EACH OTHER so that you may be HEALED." How is it, then, that Christians tell themselves, and each other, that they just need to keep their problems between them and God?

God can heal you on His own. In fact, He's the only source of real healing. But for some reason he chooses to use the act of people being REAL with each other to bring that healing.

This is a conviction I've had for quite some time, but thought I'd share today. This week, I really saw how many people are hurting, or have been hurt. Most of all, though... I saw that few people KNEW that others were hurting. It's all a secret.

Lift up your hand. Curl it around the edge. Now peel the mask off your face. Let's see some real people, and receive real healing.

With love,

Art