Darth Vader and My BFF
2 POTSC BFFS Talkin’ Straight
Two of us.
We are both People of the Second Chance.
And we are true friends, the kind that can talk straight with each other.
The kind that you keep.
Steve: The POTSC poster is Darth Vader. What’s with Vader?
Gigi: He has that whole father/son evil “Luke, I am your father” thing.
Steve: He also has that mask.
Gigi: I think we all have a mask.
Steve: True.
Gigi: What do you see as my mask?
Steve: The mask you wear is flexibility/control. Ouch. It’s true.
Gigi: Ouch? No. Duh. You are right- about the control. But tell me what you see.
Steve: 1) You are flexible and willing to let controlled chaos happen–like a mess in the playroom, or your youngest riding a tricycle in the hallway. That’s chaos to some, but it is chaos you can control.
2) You don’t like to NOT have control.
3) I have seen you not go somewhere because you couldn’t predict/control your response.
2) You don’t like to NOT have control.
3) I have seen you not go somewhere because you couldn’t predict/control your response.
Gigi: So I mask control with flexibility? I DO like to have control- and here is where I see the line. It’s control over my vulnerability. I do NOT like the feeling of being vulnerable. It feels so..UNsafe. I like to use the mask to hide my tender feelings. Because when you are vulnerable with someone, they have the power to hurt you. They have the power to tell your junk when you may not want it told.
Steve: If I do that, I apologize. I am sorry if my mouth gets ahead of my brain.
Gigi: I know your mouth. But I share with you because I know you really care. And that helps with the removal of the mask.
Steve: What do you see as my mask?
Gigi: For you, it’s humor. If you are happy and loud and funny- people are satisfied and don’t look any further.
Steve: Humor-yes. Absolutely. What else?
Gigi: Avoidance. I have seen you use avoidance when you don’t want to deal. I have seen you combine humor with avoidance- you will say or do something funny to change the topic.
Steve: The bible talks about masks. Religious masks.
Gigi: (thinks… is this avoidance?) Tell me.
Steve: Check out these verses-
Luke 12:1-5 MSG
“By this time the crowd, unwieldy and stepping on each other’s toes, numbered into the thousands. But Jesus’ primary concern was his disciples. He said to them, “Watch yourselves carefully so you don’t get contaminated with Pharisee yeast, Pharisee phoniness. You can’t keep your true self hidden forever; before long you’ll be exposed. You can’t hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. You can’t whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the day’s coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town. “I’m speaking to you as dear friends. Don’t be bluffed into silence or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies. True, they can kill you, but then what can they do? There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.”
Darth Vader is one of the most hated and revered “bad guys” of all-time, but even he was given a second chance by Luke Skywalker.
Luke knew that there was more behind the mask.
In being one of these People of the Second Chance, you have the honor and responsibility of unmasking your neighbors.
By showing them just how beautiful their scars are, you give a second chance.
By allowing radical grace to transform their future, you overthrow judgement in their lives.
Jesus Christ didn’t come only to save our souls from hell; He came and died on the Cross, endured unimaginable torture, and accepted our punishment, for healing on this side of Eternity, too.
What’s your mask?
Let us pray for you: teenprayers@gmail.com
–Steve and GiGi
GOD LOVES TEENAGERS!
About Gigi
CAH-RAZY!
I posted this verse earlier today.
My mask is like the both of yours.
I do NOT want to be vulnerable with just anyone.
I avoid things; mainly just because I think I am avoiding hurt.
I think the bad things about masks, is we get so used to seeing the mask, that we can forget who we are. Which makes things SO tough; I’ve been there.
I don’t like masks.
As hard as it is for me, I want to take my masks off, because then other people are brave enough to remove theirs.
Being real, and “mask-less”, is scary, but so freeing.
Judith–you helped me take off the mask yesterday, if you’ll remember. Removing the mask brings healing.
Thank you, friend.
You know what else is bad about masks? They are HEAVY. I think we don’t realize how heavy they are until we have convinced ourselves that we NEED them.
Yep. Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
A mask is a lot of work. Too much work.
LEGIT!
2Legit 2Quit!
I think that my mask is effort. If I just try harder then I don’t have to trust God with my disbelief. I don’t have to let go of anything if I just put more effort into self- improvement.
I think I have a lot of masks. They need to come off one by one.
Thank you for sharing this with us. :-)
Thanks Andrew. I have more than the ones Steve named. I hope you also have a close friend who can see past the masks and loves you unconditionally. I checked out The Paradigm- nice. :) Thanks for stopping by. -Gigi
Lindsey…. I have been chewing on this….I think all of our masks boil down to independence- when God wants us to be dependent on Him. If I make myself better, if I am strong enough, if I am smart enough, if I am funny enough…. Then I can do it myself. Thank you for posting. I love you lots!
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