Masks and their Danger

You think you know someone, and what they stand for, and really, you don't. Sometimes you are caught by surprise, and it shows. If you have read some of my blogging attempts, you will realise that I sometimes use comparison to make a point. The point of this blog is to expose the nature of false faces, their effects, and that this does not only happen with kids at hallowe'en. There are two examples which confronted me recently. They should be taken as hypothetical cases.


The first is a quiet, reserved, almost shy person. Not easy to strike up conversation with, and I had known them for quite a few months, but always found them to be very pleasant. Living alone, I know that this can make you withdraw into yourself, and possibly some of your self confidence can be lost in that process, so I thought I understood them, and in some ways felt sorry. My thinking was shattered when I read in the newspaper that this meek and mild mannered person had threatened a couple in a public place with a weapon, and was so much a risk to safety that the police were called in. Such was the severity of the incident that the police deployed dog handlers, plain clothes personnel, and a tactical team to handle the circumstance which developed. I would say that this was not in the character of the person I knew, but how wrong I was! This was not the person I thought I knew.


The second is a person I have known, along with the family, for a long time. To say they are all very nice people is an understatement. They were brought up in a very stable environment, with a lot of love shown throughout life, not only by parents, but also by those in the wider family circle. This individual is clever, articulate, and a well educated example of the school system where they live. In this case, was always taught to speak kindly and thoughtfully in every situation. Imagine my surprise to learn, first hand, that this fine education has changed them into a brash, arrogant, opinionated, impress at any cost, and a 'hard to like' kind of person. It was a bit like over hearing a conversation which was not meant for you, but which you couldn't help but listen to. Certainly not the language or talk which you had heard in the past, or would have ever expected to hear eloquently praising and extolling the violent and seedy side of life, now. Again, not the person I thought I knew.


The comparison is easy to make on the surface. One wears a mask which hides the easy predisposition to violence. The other wears a mask which hides a desire for unseemly talk and opinions expressed which you would not easily accept in anyone else. So much for simple comparison, but who is easier to understand and 'accept'? For me, it is relatively easy to know where you stand with the 'physical' actions, but the deeper thoughts and ramblings of the emotionally immature person really is difficult, and therefore they can be described as a 'loose canon'. For that reason I find the latter harder to deal with.


It all comes down to this. We all wear masks, and are not always what we seem. Usually it is in a small thing, and easily handled, but sometimes it can become evident in a life changing way, and certainly in an opinion changing way. I cannot now deal with either of these folks in the manner I first had done, but I will be able to manage it better with one, than the other, of these hypothetical people! One of my prayers is that I will be true to my core faith values, which will be readily seen, and people will be able to say about me, 'what you see is what you get'!! Circumstances now make this prayer even more important. Not always an easy, but certainly a worthy goal. After all, who wants to be thought of as two faced?