February 22,1998

James A. Todhunter

"The Truth behind the Mask"

My Aunt Helen always said that my Dad, her little brother, had a special face that he presented to the world. He put that face on when he left for school in the morning, and he hung it out on the gate post when he came home. She, of course, was saying that the face he wore for the rest of the world was charming, kindly, and likable, while his true face, the one he presented to the family was, well...quite different.

What is the relationship between the external faces we wear, what we face the world with, and what we are really like? It is frequently suggested that to present a face to the world that is different from what we are truly like is a kind of lie, or duplicity. A false face, so to speak. Or to face the world with a poker face, that is, a face that doesn't let on how we really are feeling, is not good or healthy. We should strive to always be open, honest, forthcoming; and avoid being withholding or "two-faced " In a perfect world, maybe so, but I believe that being an adult involves knowing when it is appropriate to be open and forthcoming, and when it is appropriate not to be. In the world of negotiation, for example, while you may know what your bottom line is, it is important that the other party not know. Isn't that true? A slogan reflecting today's social climate says "Secrets make us sick." This, of course, refers to things like sexual misconduct or child abuse. But at the same time aren't we entitled to some secrets, simply because it isn't anybody else's business? Some secrets do make us sick. But being open about other secrets is simply foolish or worse.

I guess what I am saying is that there is an inward self and an outward self. The inward self is who we really are. The outward self is the face we choose, consciously or unconsciously, to present to the world.

The Irish poet William Butler Yeats wrote books on artistic theory as well as verse. He developed something he called the "Doctrine of the Mask." He believed that all of us don masks when we face the world and that that is necessary and good. What we are inside, he believed, is such a swirling, chaotic, mess; and that this inner reality needs to be mediated through a mask, or a role. In fact, he believed that the artist must adopt a role in order to let his or her creativity flow forth. Carl Jung meant essentially the same thing when he said that each of us needs to adopt what he called a persona, a face, to relate to the outside world. Jung saw things psychologically, Yeats, theatrically. Shakespeare talks about how our lives are a series of roles we play, and that life itself is like a theatre.

Today we say a person can wear many hats in life, or even in one day. I am struck that when my wife, Lois, is in the mother role, she is, somehow, different from when she is in the wife role. In some ways. In the mother role, she is "in charge," issuing directives and dealing with differences like a field marshal! one minute; then tender and, well, "motherly" the next. In the role of spouse, on the other hand, she is...in charge..No. In that role, she can of course be very strong; but she can also reveal her vulnerability, and allow herself to be nurtured. To be a mature person allows oneself to juggle these roles in a appropriate way. Knowing the right role in a situation is necessary in order to live happily and successfully. And also, the Interesting thing is that one role can reveal a part of yourself that another role cannot. If you have ever had an acting class, you know that, if you are really in the part of a character, someone who is different from what you are like, there is a part of you that shines through, nevertheless. And if you really want to be mysterious - it is true that when someone puts on a mask, they somehow become the character the mask portrays, even though you cannot see the face.

Therefore masks, roles, whatever they are called - serve two purposes: they conceal and they reveal simultaneously. Which brings me to the fascinating scriptures for Transfiguration Sunday. In the Old Testament scripture, Moses returns from Mt. Sinai. His face is radiant. Fiercely aglow. Why? Because he has been in the presence of God. Thereafter, he is required to veil his face to protect the Israelites from this divine energy. And in the New Testament story of the Transfiguration, James, Peter and John join Jesus on the mountaintop. There his true countenance is revealed to them in a blinding white light, and a voice from heaven, reminiscent of the words from heaven at the time of Jesus' baptism, resound "This is my Beloved Son." In both these instances, the scripture is showing us that the divine, raw, powerful energy of God is what lies behind the real world that we see. Moses was revealed to be a true prophet. And Jesus was revealed to be the Christ.

On the mountaintop the dazzling moment comes and goes. Afterwards Jesus has apparently returned to normal and they descend, but their amazement is etched into their memory forever. But let me ask this question? Which was the true Jesus? Was the true Jesus the dazzling, raw, infinite divine energy that lay behind his face, briefly but unforgettably revealed? Was the true Jesus the flesh and blood man of Galilee who walked at the side of his disciples? Is the true Jesus both? One could say that Jesus was the face presented to the world, and the Christ was the energy behind the face. I don't think that works because we are taught that Jesus and the Christ are one. We are taught that Jesus is the perfect revelation in this world of the eternal God, the perfect manifestation of God. And if that is true, then there is no difference. Or we could say that Jesus' face, his persona, reveals to us what of the divine energy we can handle, while protecting us from what we can't. There are, after all, aspects of the Holy that are dangerous.

It is an interesting theological question. But perhaps it is more helpful to ask what this story tells us about ourselves. I began by saying that to live in this world means that we must learn how to intelligently and creatively use the masks we wear, and the roles we live out. We cannot say that to be open is good, to be closed is bad. Rather we must grapple with the hard questions of when it is helpful to be open and when it is not. I cannot help but add, parenthetically, and this is my opinion, that in the current White House ethics scandal, that I am not comfortable with the goal of total openness, total revelation, the destruction of any element of privacy, especially among our public figures. It is unclear to me how this serves the public good. Some secrets are sick. Others are simply nobody's business and we demean ourselves by revealing them. Lives are being ruined in all this. It is bringing out the worst in many people.

Learning the meaning and value of masks, roles, is important in life. But also, what do our masks conceal and what do they reveal? My Aunt Helen was convinced that my Dad's friendly mask to the outside world concealed the fact that he was really a pretty difficult, self-centered young man. There was no doubt some truth in this. But is it the whole story? Roles really are phoney if the assumption is that the inner person is bad. Then the purpose of the mask is to conceal the horrible reality from the world. Is that the assumption?

I am afraid for many people it is. Our lives are governed by our assumptions, conscious and unconscious, about who we really are and what we are really like. If, in my heart, my assumption about myself is that I am pretty rotten, then the chances are that I will do my best to fool the world into thinking otherwise. And I believe that most people are willing to assume the worst about themselves in their hearts - that they are unloveable, unappealing, and will never change.

What are we really like behind our masks? I believe that the truth is that behind our masks there is the same radiant, powerful, divine energy that was revealed on the mountaintop to Jesus' disciples. To say that what we are behind the masks is simply bad or good or some combination of the two, however subtle, is to miss the real point. I believe that what lies behind is more like a thermonuclear explosion - like what goes on at the center of the sun. It is the divine creative energy of nature itself - it encompasses good and bad, but goes beyond them to the power of creation. Life - that is what's there. It is that raw energy that every creative person trusts, and that every creative act, great or small, releases. It is behind all profound emotions and all moments of personal transformation.

Understood this way, our faces, our personas, our masks both reveal God's energy to each other and protect each other. In our western culture we greet one another by shaking hands. Why? It has been said that this is to show that you have no weapon ready to use. In many eastern cultures, people greet each other by pressing hands together and bowing. This is meant to say "The divine in me greets the divine in you."

St. Paul in I Corinthians gives us an image of how we live. He says that now, we see through a glass darkly, or in a mirror dimly. Then we will see face to face. Now our relationships are always, to a degree, clouded, obscured. Like wandering in a fog. Then will come the utter and brilliant clarity of standing face to face without barrier or mediation. No masks then to hide or to reveal. The real issue for Paul is to understand what is happening now in light of what is to come. And the now and the "not yet" are connected. In the face of Jesus we see God. In the faces of each other we glimpse the divine goodness. Then we shall all see face to face. Amen.

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