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Mitch Todd About Mitch

Game Face

"I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." —Genesis 3:10

Hi. Got some questions to ask you.

Are you bulimic? Alcoholic? Mentally ill? Are you an angry time-bomb? Are you carrying around guilt about something you've done, or something someone has done to you? Are you scared? Are you just very, very sad? Maybe you simply aren't as confident as you would appear on the outside. Maybe you feel like a fake and a fraud.

Did you find yourself on that list? Well, the list goes on and on. Most of us have some very personal issues we're dealing with, and they can threaten to get in the way of our daily lives. How in the world do we make it through a busy day with stuff like this hounding us?

The answer? Game Faces. You know? Like athletes getting ready for a big game. They put on an expression that masks the fear and anxiety they may be feeling, and project a tough, ready-for-anything exterior.

We all have em, we all wear em. Sometimes game faces come in handy. Sometimes they're helpful. You may not feel comfortable going around telling everyone — "I'm scared!" or "I'm gay!" or "I have obsessive compulsive disorder!" And the truth is, you may not NEED to tell everyone all your secrets. Putting on a game face means you can do what needs to be done in the world without all that hidden, secret stuff getting in the way.

But life is very lonely if you forget how to show people your real face. That's when the game face becomes a problem.

When you can't take it off.

Here's an amusing image: What if Adam and Eve covered themselves with fig-leaves... and then were unable to take the leaves off! They would no longer be naked — but then they could no long get naked, if you know what I mean!! They'd be stuck in this covered up way of life — perpetually hiding themselves. Unable to achieve real intimacy with each other or with God.

There are some people out there — you may be one of them — who can't show God their real face. They are so ashamed or so scared or so confused or so sick that they don't know how to take that game face off! That's too bad, because God loves you for who you are.

There are some people out there — and again, you may be one of them — who can't even look their true selves in the mirror!!! Before they even look in the mirror in the morning — they make sure their game face is on. That's too bad, because you were created in the image of God.

What an incredibly lonely and alienated way of living. Alienated from God, alienated from other human beings, and even alienated from yourself! Don't let that ever happen to you!

I don't think God expects us to totally abandon our game faces. Sometimes they can be a helpful coping mechanism. But to have an honest and open relationship with God, we have to be able to show God who we really are, secrets and all. We have to remember that God loves us unconditionally. Then we have to be able to look ourselves in the mirror and love ourselves, as is.

Once we are able to do those things, then maybe, just maybe, the game face can come off every once in a while, out here in the world. So what do you say... ready to feel a little breeze on your real face? Let's give it a try. Let's be who we were created to be, for all the world to see.

Are you up to the challenge?

I think I'm game.

Have a good week,

Mitch
rmitchelltodd@yahoo.com