“Love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.” James Baldwin

We all have masks that we wear to get through our lives. I think the practice of masking is embedded beginning in childhood, with the mask we are given in our family, a role of sorts. All of us have that. And we are usually not aware of wearing any mask at all, and no one is aware of asking or even demanding that we wear it.

I think of the masks actors wear in drama, especially the Greeks masks of tragedy and comedy. The actor dons the tragic mask as they enter the scene, the features sloped downward, the eyes and the mouth as if propelled by gravity toward the actor’s shoes, makes a natural frown. The actor themself may be smiling underneath or resting with a neutral face. The actor lets the mask do the work, showing the audience the impression the scene is having, influencing the mood of the audience. Thankfully things change, and in another scene the actor may don the comic mask, as if strings from heaven are pulling the features of the face upward toward the sky. A look of jubilation, a grin that shows that this scene is all comedy, all laughs.

What does it mean to take off the mask and show our true face? Given my experience, I wonder if it happens when the mask accidentally falls off in a moment of its own accord, without us realizing it. A moment of relaxation when we lose self consciousness, and just are as we are. Perhaps we’re still wearing the mask, but it’s looser, less oppressive, less fitted. We can see where the person meets the mask.

Ministry at UUYO has been a process of learning to live a life of wholeness for me. That is a key part of our mission statement: encouraging one another to live a life of wholeness. I think a life of wholeness is to know the masks that we wear, and in appropriate moments, even in privacy, know that we can take them off and see ourselves anew. There is a great Zen koan: Show me your original face before your parents were born. For me, that original face is love. What does that look like?

I think we catch glimpses of it at UUYO. Sometimes in coffee hour, sometimes in a passionate discussion, sometimes in passing as we find our way to the restroom. When I’m in the pulpit, I feel Iike I see it when I look out at you in the congregation. I see your original face, and that encourages me to show mine. It is not a particular facial expression or state of being. It is nothing special at all. It’s the face we have at that moment, whether it’s masked or not. It’s feeling that we have a face, that we are a person, not an object. We are living, breathing, a person who changes and has the capacity for change. This realization helps us see other’s original faces, less as roles in the drama of our self-centered lives.

I’m looking forward to continuing to live a life of wholeness with all of you. February is Black History month, and it’s fitting that our theme is “Love.” We will continue to learn how to love ourselves, as we love the world.

In Faith, Rev. Joseph