About the Game of “Looking Good”

I’m getting tired of hearing about which of the candidates that are seeking to become their parties nominee for president have high approval ratings and which do not. But then, which one of us can honestly say that we are never concerned about looking good.

When what we do receives a smile,
And who we are is overlooked,
We learn quite early how to play
The game that’s known as “Looking Good.”

‘Cause in this world, where gods of
Beauty, strength, and money reign,
Judgments fall on those who fail;
How could we say, “That’s my fault”!

“This load is heavy. I need help!”
“I don’t know how. I was afraid.”
“I feel ashamed. I told a lie!”
Honesty would break the rules.

In “Looking Good” appearance counts;
We hide our flaws, our guilt, and shame.
And oft’ design two separate lives—
One up front and one inside:

One at school and one at home
One at church and one at work
One with family, one with friends
One on Facebook, one off –line.

If too long, we play this game,
We lose touch with who we are;
We lose sight of all our goals;
A deep sadness fills our souls.

“Looking Good” is hard to do;
What is true keeps leaking through.
“Looking Good” adds to shame;
“Looking Good” makes us blame.

In our mask, a crack appears;
We injure those that we hold dear.
Just like Clinton, Cruise, and Trump,
Under pressure, we erupt.

Then, with another choice, we’re blessed:
Admit to our inward mess,
Or go right back and play the game.
Changing is so hard to do.

Unless we have a loving friend,
Who’ll gently guide us, take our hand,
Who’ll help us climb, but not control,
Who’ll let us move at our own pace,

Who’ll not reject us when we fall,
Yet will, with grace, our blunder’s call,
And summon us to wisely choose
Internal goodness—not applause.

Unless we have a friend like this,
How can we leave our painful game?
It’s just too hard; our path’s ingrained.
We’ll likely choose to stay the same.

How profound that God knows this!
How amazing that he choose
To come to earth and demonstrate
What it means to not pretend.

For Jesus, “Good” was not a game;
It was his true and shameless name.
He was himself and nothing more—
Nothing more and nothing less.

He had no guilt to cover up
He was the same, inside and out.
Never once did he bow down
To gods who called him to conform.

When we connect our hearts with his,
We find the strength to end our game.
And gradually he imparts
True goodness to our yielded hearts.