My son and I went out for Hallowe'en together this past weekend. It was his idea that we dress up as Spock and Kirk from the latest Star Trek movie. This was the first year that it was just the two of us, as my daughter was out with her friends. (A sign she is getting older!)
We have a short route of houses that we visit every year, all within a block or so of our home. We tend to visit only people that we know. (It's not about the candy- we never finish all of it anyway! It's about the opportunity to see some of our neighbours.)
There is one lady who lives very close to us who takes pictures of some of the neighbourhood kids every year. This year as those kids came to see her again, she was able to give each child a print of their photo from last year. A real treat!
This lady also has an uncanny ability to tell which child is in there, underneath even the most elaborate, and identity-obscuring costume. We made some of our stops with another little boy named Jake, whose face was hidden behind his Spiderman mask. But even Spiderman did not fool the woman who knows all the kids. (It helps that she knows all the kids, and their interests, and could guess who is likely to be what character. It also helps that she talks to the parents, and hears about what the kids have planned. In other words, she can tell who the kids are, because she really knows and loves them.)
I think that God is like that. God can tell who we really are, no matter what outward disguise we put on for the world. The masks don't fool God. God knows us from inside, and loves us.
