Don’t panic.  If you’ll be celebrating Mardi Gras next February, there’s time to shop for your mask.  Or you could always make do with the one you wore for Halloween.  The one that wowed the neighbors and frightened all the pets on your street.

Why are people so attracted to masks?  Is it the anonymity?  The temporary rush we get from the notion that we’re getting away with something?  Or is it a deeply embedded dissatisfaction with how we see ourselves?

The remarkable man who introduced Jesus Christ to Europe wrote to his fellow believers in Rome, “I ask you not to think of yourselves more highly than you should.”  He wasn’t recommending low self-esteem.  On the contrary, he was encouraging them to see themselves as God views them and us, i.e., supremely loved and completely forgiven.  Our part is to embrace that priceless pardon by receiving this gift as a willful act of faith.

There’s no need to put on a happy face, or a scary one.  Relax and be the you God created you to be.  Let’s “faith” it; He made a masterpiece when He made you.