Depression

When the Curtain Falls

Blog_Masquerade01i see you from afar
know deeply who you are
my eyes can see much more
than human eyes can see

your heart speaks loud and clear
though you try to hide your tears
i can hear your silent cry
though you do not hear me

you’re weary from the act
burdened by the mask
and yet you strive to keep
the image you portray

you surround yourself with those
who will never truly know
how hard you fight to breathe
and to live another day

and yet
i see…
i know…
i ask

what are you wearing
when the final act
comes to an end?

what are you wearing
when the curtain falls
and the lights go dim?

what are you wearing
when you close the door,
at last alone?

what are you wearing
when the day is done
and you’re finally home?

do you shed the garments that made you shine?
or do you fake your smile one last time?
do you take a breath and hope it’s done,
dread the rising of the sun?

or does the costume wait for you
for wearing when the night is through
to play your starring role once more
still trapped behind your prison doors

what are you wearing?
you refuse to confide
i know who you are
though you try to hide

what are you wearing?
your audience waits
to find what’s behind
the veil on your face

what are you wearing?
when will you let go
of the garment that keeps you
from being…known

Related Post: Stars Without Makeup

Originally posted by j.e. fernandez on FaithWriters, Helium Network, & the Nightlight Blog

Photo Credit: Masquerade mask from Roger’s Gardens | Explored November 10,… | Flickr

How Would I Know?

Blog_TrampledRose

how would i know
what you were thinking
if i never stopped to ask?

how would I know
that you were hoping
today would be your last?

how would i have seen
the darkness in your life
if i didn’t try to look
more deeply in your eyes?

and how would i have heard
the cry behind your smile
if i didn’t choose to wait
and listen for awhile?

yet now i feel your pain
and now i share your tears
i hold the heavy weight
of the burden that you bear

i’ve tasted of your sorrows
i’ve walked inside your shoes
i’ve finally had a glimpse
of what it’s like to be you

all you needed was some comfort–
to know you’re not alone
if i never stopped to listen
how would i have known?

Source: More than a Neighbor

Photo Credit: Rejected Rose | by Kurayba Rejected Rose | by Kurayba

Living with Legacy in Mind

Blog_BridgeI’ve been thinking a lot about legacy lately. What is it I will leave behind for future generations? Not in terms of material things, but in terms of life-impacting actions.

Maybe it’s the ever-increasing news of widespread hatred and violence that prompts this reflection. Or news of those now hailed as heroes all for devoting their lives and resources in pursuit of self-gratification. Or the featured news story praising a forty-year-old pop star for singing about the size of her behind.

I can’t understand what drives our generation to hateful acts that scar generations to come. Or to believe courage is anything less than laying down our lives for the good of others. Or to think our middle-aged years derive their worth from the size of our rear-ends—enough to deem it a song-worthy legacy.

In light of all this, I ask—what do I want my legacy to be?

Not hatred or violence, that’s for sure. Not a life lived in vain pursuit of self-gratification. And I’ve been to enough funerals to know the size of my behind won’t matter any more at the end of my life than it does now.

What if my legacy has nothing to do…with me? What if it has everything to do with the lives I influence for the good of the world here and in eternity? Knowing this would change how I use my time and my words. It would change how I invest my talents and resources. It would transform my goals, my actions.

At the end of my life, I don’t care if anyone remembers my face, or even my name. I only hope I’ll have planted enough seeds of love to grow life-outlasting fruit. And I hope to have rightly represented our God of grace, mercy, truth, and love to have drawn people to know how amazing he truly is.

“He has shown you, oh mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

Source: Living with Legacy in Mind

Photo Credit: Old Bridge Free Stock Photo – Public Domain Pictures

True Love Sees

Blog_IceCave

God sees into our hearts—our deepest places of darkness, and loves us still—bidding us to discard our masks and come as we are. Empty. Broken. Yet free. True love SEES.

 

Source: Stars Without Makeup

Photo Credit: Inside the Big 4 Ice Caves by Michael Matti | The Big 4 Ice … | Flickr

The God Who Sees

Blog_Desert Sunset

“She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)

 

Source: Stars Without Make Up

Photo Credit: Mission Peak Sunset View from Horse Heaven Tree | Flickr – Photo …

Stars Without Makeup

Blog_MakeupPaletteThere’s something more captivating about one picture of a star without makeup than all the paparazzi’s red carpet photos combined. What is it that makes the headline “Stars Without Makeup” such a common theme in modern media? It’s the opportunity to see beyond the air-brushed mask of idyllic glamour into the reality of what these stars really are…human.

Sometimes while standing in the checkout line, I catch a glimpse of a de-glammed star photo and something tugs at my heart. Compassion, maybe. I feel for that person behind the mask who lives in a prison of luxury, shackled to the trappings of fame—a slave of the ever-watching world..

If you look closely enough, beyond the smiles on even a glammed-up photo, you’ll see the sadness. The emptiness. The loneliness and disappointment. The toll that stardom has taken on a mere mortal. It’s something reminiscent of the story of King Midas, who in his lust for gold lost all that really mattered to him.

This looking beyond masks applies to us regular folk, too. We all wear masks sometimes. But the trained eye of true love can see beyond.

There was a woman on the run, in the desert, fighting for her life and that of her son. God met her in the desert with a display of tender compassion that nourished her soul and brought her back to life. There, in her deepest place of desperation, she bestowed this name upon her rescuer: “The God who sees.”

He sees into our hearts—our deepest places of darkness, and loves us still—bidding us to discard our masks and come as we are. Empty. Broken. Yet free. True love SEES.

“She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)

Source: Stars Without Makeup

Photo Credit: Cosmetic Palette | erfan a. setiawan | Flickr

Expectations

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God is who he chooses to be, not who we make him to be. He does what he wills, not always what we want. When we embrace this truth, he speaks to us in our affliction, and we’re freed from the restrictions of our expectations.

 

Source: Hope in the Midst of Suffering

Photo Credit: File:Meijer Gardens October 2014 24 (Woodland Shade Garden).jpg …