How to Have a Healthy Hope and a Happy Heart as Halloween Hastens: Truth 5

When my daughter was two, she brought an important lesson to life for me. We were walking in our neighborhood in October, and she was noticing the creepy decorations on people’s porches. She would turn to me, wild eyed, and stiffly say “I’m not scared”. Her expression and her body language said otherwise. Day after day, until those decorations came down, she illustrated the fact that people sometimes present a front that is different than what they are feeling, or who they are on the inside.

Since then I’ve had many interactions with people where I realized that what they were presenting to my eyes and ears was not what I was perceiving with my heart and spirit. And I will admit there have been times when I was reticent to reveal my true self. Haven’t we all been on both sides of this equation? And this brings me to the fifth, and final truth in this series.

The Halloween season reminds us to look beyond the disguises that people wear.

Today is the day for disguises

Today is the day that highlights this truth like no other. We will see people in obvious costumes all around us. We will look at them and know that they have altered their appearance and are playing a character which is not who they really are. We will perceive children beneath their disguises and people we love behind their masks. We will treat them for who we know they are, not for who they present themselves to be today. And oh, what a picture of discernment that we can hold onto for the rest of the year!

It is obvious on Halloween, but next week it won’t be so easy. When our loved ones look like themselves, and hide behind everyday facades, it takes more effort to notice. But it is more crucial than ever that we look through the disguises and into the hearts that lie beneath. What types of costumes might we see on Halloween which mirror those we see in daily life? (Shameless plug for tomorrow’s post on this very topic – I sure hope you’ll join in!)

_{Photo by Yan Krukov}
Disguises are obvious on Halloween

There is no time like Halloween to reflect on costumes and disguises. When I see the costumes today, and easily look through them to see a cherished person underneath, I am going to fill my tank of resolve to see through the facades I see all year. Any time I get an opportunity to improve my interactions with other people for God’s glory, I want to lean in.

This Halloween, may you have a healthy hope and a happy heart in light of Who God is and who He has created you to be. On a personal note, this has been my first Halloween season as a blogger, and I realize this series may have been counterintuitive to many of my readers. I cannot thank you enough for reading and engaging and for being so gracious with my point of view. You all are amazing! God is continually blessing me through you.

Click here to read the Introduction to this series.