The Real Change for 2021

The 2021 that we had all been eagerly anticipating is here! Unfortunately, some of the things that we had hoped would change are pretty much the same. But WE don’t have to stay the same! Let’s allow God’s Word change us, no matter what is happening around us!  I pretty much had an unrealistic expectation that we would be done with masks by 2021. But we CAN shed the masks. A different kind of mask…

The Mask

I walk by your side; I call you my friend.

Can I trust you enough to let you peek in?

My life is a blur of mistakes and wrong turns.

Your world seems so perfect with no real concerns.

So, though you’re my friend, I’ll keep up my charade,

And keep my tight mask on. I’m much too afraid.

Your opinion of me would change if I told

All the dark, ugly secrets that are burned in my soul.

Then it happened! My mask slipped! I turned quickly away

Before you could see all my scars on display.

But you caught a quick glimpse before I could adjust,

And I braced myself for your recoil of disgust.

But it never came, and I stared in surprise

As you lifted your own mask, and I saw your eyes.

I saw the deep pain that you had been through

As you nervously showed me that you have scars, too.

How foolish I was to not recognize where

My healing would come from—it’s through friends who care.

So our masks laid aside, we can look face to face

As our ashes are traded for beauty and grace.

For when we have the courage to freely reveal

Our true selves in friendship, our scars finally heal.

c. Bobbie Perkins

I pray that in 2021 you will allow God to help you shed the mask, your garment of despair, and replace it with a crown of beauty. Have the courage to be the first to be vulnerable. You may find out that your friends share some of the same fears you have. Twenty-One! The year of change in us, even if everything else stays the same!