I Take Off the Mask

Image by Sanchez Lin from Pixabay I think that it is inherent in human beings to seek the spiritual, something that transcends the physical world that is visible to our eyes. But in our search for the transcendent, we often make things more complicated than they’re supposed to be. We want rituals and secret words and long ceremonies. We try to discover what only the wisest of men could possibly comprehend. I guess we can’t believe something is true unless that truth involves a lot of difficult ideas. We can’t believe that truth can be so simple even children could understand it. And so truth could be right before our eyes and we refuse to see it. Truth could be pursuing us, but we refuse to be found. Why think that truth is that hard to grasp? If it’s the truth, it should be evident, it should be seen all around you. The mountains, the clouds and the seas should proclaim it. The very ground you’re standing upon should possess it. The truth is within you. But you need to be silent eno...

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay God knows how weak we are and how lost we are and how dark this world is. He knows how much we suffer. He is not ignorant of the hurts that tear our hearts apart. If we could look through His eyes, maybe we can see each other better. Maybe we’d realize how hard each one of us has been trying all along. Trying so hard to survive despite the pain. Trying our very best to do good despite falling again and again. Trying our utmost to love. Never think that He does not see you. Never ever think that He doesn’t care for you. If He ever holds back from helping you right now, it is because He is waiting to reap the sweetest fruits from your bitterest trials. He knows you, He knows just how much you can bear. Lift up your eyes then in prayer and have faith. Though God is silent, He is with you. Though God seems far away, He abides in the innermost chambers of your heart.

Image from Pixabay For the single and loveless one, for the one who walks alone; For the one who seeks and cannot find, for the one who cannot make it home. For the one who aches for true love’s kiss, for the one who sleeps in the cold; For the one whose pain cannot be healed, for the one whose tears you dare not hold. For the one who bleeds like rain, for the one whose heart is in pain; For the one whose touch is repulsed, for the one whose feet are scarred. Take heart and see the path you’ve walked, Rewind the days that made you strong. Look up and find the sky has cleared, as birds surround you with their song. Your wounded heart has been enlarged, and now greater love can find its way. Your deepest sorrows shall be your joy, as your darkest nights shall turn to day!

Image by Ri Butov from Pixabay How can a song suddenly just make me cry? How can a song whose language I don’t even understand speak so closely to my heart, perhaps more intimately than the words my mind could possibly comprehend, more deeply than if I had made up the words myself. It’s as though they came from a distant memory I tried to forget, or to an unspoken dream I’ve always had. How could it touch a wound I couldn’t even see or heal the broken parts I never even thought could mend? There is more to the soul than what we bare, there is more to life than the masks we often wear. Sometimes, it’s a simple song that reveals it to us, a melody that’s like a long-lost friend, whispering it’s okay to cry, assuring us we were never truly alone.

There is a kind of happiness that can easily make you smile or laugh. Sometimes it can even be so overwhelming that it makes you cry. After a while, however, you realize that your feelings slowly start to fade. Somehow, you find it harder and harder to remember the way you felt before. Eventually, you may wonder whether you’ve been really happy at all. On the other hand, there is a happiness that doesn’t seem like happiness at the start. It’s so subtle that it almost speaks in whispers. It moves ever gently you may fail to notice it’s there. But if you pay attention to it and you give it time, and if you allow it to touch you and to enter your heart, you’d see how it would grow steadily from day to day. You’d understand it more and more. Unlike the first kind of happiness, this one doesn’t quickly fade. This one doesn’t excite you only to let you down. But this kind of happiness grows deep until it takes root. It changes you and moves you. It pene...

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay Sometimes I need an older song, A song that understands Who I am and where I’ve been, A song that grew with me And felt with me That never left me All these years. Sometimes I need an older song, A song that can make me feel Where I came from And where I belong, A song that’s as warm As an old coat or shoe A song that fits and Sticks like glue. New songs come And new songs go But not all songs Can touch you The way that some Songs do. They remind you Of that life, Of that breath Of that particular time When life was simpler When hearts were purer And when you danced And lived And loved.

There are no guarantees in life, there is no assurance, that the good things you have will remain, that you will be protected from all pain. There are no guarantees in life, there is no promise, that the dreams you dream will come true, that you will have the life you pursue. So take each day as it comes, and seize each moment that is yours, dance in the rain if you could, bask in the sun if you would. Don’t hold back the love you must give, and learn to forget and forgive; cry if you must yet don’t forget to laugh, lift up your eyes and see the stars up above. There are no guarantees in life, so let go of your fears, this is the day to live, with all that you hold dear!