Facade

Robert Louis Stevenson is that famous author who wrote many classics such as Treasure Island.  He has many well-known quotes such as: “Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well" and “You think those dogs will not be heaven!  I tell you they will be there before any of us."   And, “To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.”

Then there is “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”   Just recently I read the story.   I have a CD with the music from the Broadway production – great score!  Here are some of the lyrics from the song “Facade.”

There's a face that we wear
In the cold light of day -
It's society's mask,
It's society's way,
And the truth is
That it's all a façade!
There's a face that we hide
Till the nighttime appears,
And what's hiding inside,
Behind all of our fears,
Is our true self,
Locked inside the façade!...

Are we evil or good?
Do we walk the fine line -
That we'd cross if we could?
Are we waiting -
To break through the façade?...

At the end of the day,
They don't mean what they say,
They don't say what they mean,
They don't ever come clean -
And the answer -
Is it's all a façade!
Is it's all a façade!
Man is not one, but two,
He is evil and good,
An' he walks the fine line
We'd all cross if we could!
It's a nightmare -
We can never discard -
So we stay on our guard -
Though we love the façade -
What's behind the façade?
Look behind the façade!

These lyrics highlight in a very powerful way that we can be evil or good – that we have two sides.  We “walk the fine line” that “we’d cross if we could.”

So why don’t we cross that line to do evil not good?   But we do, at times.   That’s why we seek forgiveness so easily found through our Catholic faith.   Our Church helps us drop our guard and look behind our own personal facades to come clean.

Deacon David Pierce