Different Faces

Have you ever read the story about Jekyll and Hyde? Here's a quick run down from IMDb.com:

"Henry Jekyll is a troubled man. His wife died of pneumonia. He wants his sister-in-law, but her father forbids any contact. And his experiments into the dual nature of man have yielded a personality-splitting drug that he has tested on himself, changing him into an uninhibited brute who seeks violent and undignified pleasures. Jekyll quickly becomes addicted to the sordid freedom induced by the drug. He can commit the most enjoyably revolting deeds, then return to his laboratory and use an antidote to change back to his original form, so that his lofty persona remains untarnished. But Jekyll's forbidden affair with his sister-in-law becomes a scandal, and with the growing rage within him, his other self no longer needs the drug for release. As Jekyll loses control of his transformations and his antidote becomes less effective, the police begin to suspect his part in his alter-ego's increasing violence."

So that may seem a little extreme and it is but its a starting point for me.

I've noticed for some time now that people (in general) have different faces. When parents are around people revert back to how they are at home which is sometimes completely different than how that person is really known to be. When siblings are around, especially if there was a little rivalry growing up, a person will try to show off and make life appear better than it really is. Even when certain friends are around people act differently to keep whatever appearence they may have with the person how they want it.

It makes me wonder how many people do this with other things in life like church. I know it happens, even here at the WU. I see it every week. Sunday morning we're one person, when we can actually crawl out of bed. And then throw in Wednesday night if you work with a group of kids at church. And then Monday thru Saturday we're someone else. And if that's here on campus, what about outside the bubble? How can we be trusted if we're always changing who we really are?

It was a little bit of a stretch with the Jekyll & Hyde but I see the relationship all the time. It takes time to get to know someone so well that you can see the differences between their Jekyll & Hyde self. And once I'm at that point with someone, it irritates me when I notice it while its happening.

I'm not trying to exclude myself from any of this because I struggle with it too. But why can't we just be ourselves? Don't pretend to be someone else. Be yourself and if you don't like who you are--well that's a whole other topic...

Idol

If you watched Idol Gives Back tonight, you might have been as surprised as me. The song very last song the group sang was "Shout to the Lord." I was shocked! I love the song but shocked that it was sang on American Idol. They did a really good job on the song.

The Game of Life

Last night, I played Life at church with the teenagers who have only merely begun to see what life is all about. It was funny to see them get excited about having the doctor as an occupation and getting $25,000 for every payday. It was funny seeing them all have to get married and then when they had little pink and blue pegs as kids in the backseat. Wesley had twins and he automatically wanted to put them up for adoption. Sometimes if only life were as easy as the game.

You would think that the game would cause me to think of the different things that are going on in my life or anyone's life in general, but it wasn't quite that way. About a month ago, I couldn't stop thinking about a high school friend with whom I haven't seen for 4 years. In fact, graduation day was probably the last day I saw her. But I kept thinking about her and didn't know why. So I emailed her and we used to be so close but we hadn't talked in so long that she thought something was wrong when I emailed.

Another friend called me out of the blue Saturday. I hadn't talked to her in years either. We were never as close as Friend #1 and I but we were close enough that we could talk about anything. She was/is just going through a really tough time right now.

But the interactions with these 2 friends have made me realize that people don't keep in touch with people unless its convenient. Life happens. Engagements, marriages, babies, relationships end, people move away, jobs, grad school. Life happens. People get busy.

Is that really an excuse? I have been friends with these people for years and could not tell you what is going on in their life other than what I have just recently found out. That's not what I would consider a friend. There are so many ways of communicating with people you care about nowadays and we do not take the time out of our 'busy schedule' to write a quick email or make a quick phone call.

Friendships are intentional relationships. You have to be intentional in the interaction you have with the other person so they know you care about them. I struggle with that sometimes.

Back to the game and not real life, it will be interesting to see how the teens really act when they see what life throws at them.