Masks after Halloween

It is the day after Halloween. Yesterday I had an unexpected revelation. I was sitting at the weekly Catholic Mass I attend with my family, singing a familiar hymn, when the lyrics that I had uttered several times before hit me like a bullet. The song was "The Summons" by John L. Bell (c) 1987, and verse 4 starts reads, "Will you love the 'you' you hide if I but call your name? Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same? Will you use the faith you've found to re-shape the world around, through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?" I was so instantly choked up, I could not sing another word. My kids glanced my way nervously. I never stop singing - especially in church. The truth of those words singed my very soul. How often I hide the real me to be politically correct, to fit in, to avoid conflict, to be liked and accepted. Wow! And though it was Halloween Day, I realized that this blog which attempts to uncover the real Lauren Dayton has a superhuman task ahead in taking the mask away which I wear every day. So, Dear Readers, I ask you to consider what masks, if any, you wear now that Halloween is over. Have you worn them all of your life or just created them for new circumstances. What masks did you ever wear in the past that you no longer need or use? Maybe it's time to throw out the costume wardrobe and shine from the inside out. It's a task I'm going to take on, and I think I'm going to have a lot to write about from here on. Have a great Monday!!! Posted 11.1.10 1:28 P.M.