A Real Mask

I was talking to a friend today and I mentioned how much I liked a mutual friend.  I was thinking about why I liked her so much and finally decided I liked her because she was real.  One of my biggest pet peeves is fake people.  I am so drawn to real......and then I thought of this quote from one of my all time favorite books: The Velveteen Rabbit.....

“What is REAL?" asked the Velveteen Rabbit one day... "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When [someone] loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.

"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand... once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.”  

I just love that quote.  While it is not absolute truth....I do think it has some truth to it.  I do think real is beautiful.  I do think real is rare.  I do think real takes time. 
I want to be real.  I want to be genuine.  I think there is something deeply beautiful about being real.  One of my favorite gifts that I got for Christmas is a Bible commentary on the book on 1 John subtitled Be Real.  I am so excited about reading it.  One of my goals this year is to become more real. 

Why is realness so appealing and on the flip side....why is hypocrisy so appalling. I think when people risk transparency....and don't feign perfection.....it gives me not only a sense of relief....that I'm not the only messed up, weak, struggling person out there...but also it also gives me a door, an opening, a window into the persons life.  It gives an opportunity to know and to be known.  It offers hope.  It showcases the work of Christ.  Where I am weak he is strong!  Hypocrisy is appalling to me because first and foremost I think it is most likely the biggest turn off to non Christians and their number one excuse to not want to visit church or know Christ.  Hypocrisy is the antithesis of authenticity.  Hypocrisy is pretending.....being fraudulent.......and guess what.....I tend to want to put on my mask.  I tend to want to please.  I tend to want to hide....because while I love the vulnerability of realness in others.....it scares me in myself.  It exposes me.  It opens me up.  When you are real....you risk judgement.  You risk rejection.  You risk disappointment. Yet I strive to deliberately peel off the mask.   I want to be real....because I love real.  I am one hot mess......I want my mask....and I want to be real!  Whew....a work in progress!