The Real You - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

"As a child, you might remember, I know I do, your parents, the way they'd be when company was around, making sure the house looked appropriate for people to see. 'They don't want to know how we really live.' You'd remember this. You'd remember the shift.Sometimes their voices would change when others were around. And then they'd leave and their energy would shift completely. You've probably seen this and you even remember as you got older, maybe your first job, how everyone was the first week or two weeks or how you felt and how you acted. You have this idea you want to put your best foot forward, and so does the company. After a few weeks, a few months all of a sudden, people start to see how the place really works, and how they really fit in...Oftentimes we might even measure who our closest friends and loved ones are by the fact that we were able to be ourselves with them more quickly. You know, this feeling there is a, there's a fear of being yourself that we all experience. There's a mask we are accustomed to placing upon ourselves. Some of it is just for common courtesy and decorum, but some of it is because we're scared of what people will see."