Stained Glass Masquerade (standard:Inspirational stories, 1194 words)
Author: Lori	Added: Jun 29 2007	Views/Reads: 3323/2128	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A new genre for me, but I wanted to try my hand at it. Let me know what you think.

Stained Glass Masquerade 

By: Lori 

Ok, another song by Casting Crowns. I have a respect for their music
that doesn't know words. They have touched my soul like nothing has in 
a while. I owe a depth of gratitude to them for renewing my faith in 
Christ. 
_______________________________________________________________________ 


A woman walks into the sanctuary with a tortured soul. She perambulates
down the aisle to the altar. She's come to lay it all at Jesus' feet. 
She's not strong enough to handle it any longer. She remembers the song 
she heard on the way here. It is what caused her make the decision to 
come here today. It's a song by the Christian rock band called Casting 
Crowns. It describes everything she is going through at this time in 
her life. 

“Is there anyone that fails? 

Is there anyone that falls? 

Am I the only one in church today feeling so small? 

Cause when I take a look around, 

Everybody seems so strong. 

I know they'll soon discover, 

That I don't belong.” 

So with a painted grin, I play the part again. 

So everyone will see me the way that I see them.” 

She feels small because she hasn't been perfect in her life. The woman
hasn't committed murder or whatnot. It's more that she hasn't lived a 
life for Christ. She suffers from depression most of the time. The 
demons convince her to believe she's not worthy to be in a house of 
God. So, she has stayed away. She's let the monsters run her life 
instead of having faith in God to get her through. 

The woman thinks she doesn't belong because of the same reason. The evil
spirits make her accept there is no help for her. She imagines coming 
here will hurt more then it will help. The darkness in her soul won't 
allow her to accept the great love of Christ. Instead they battle 
against the word of God. They fight to remain alive inside of her. 

She tucks her life away and renders it to where she doesn't cerebrate
the good times. The woman makes the world think that she doesn't have 
an internal war going on inside for her soul. She puts on a grin and 
bears what the evil inside of her dishes out. To let the world know she 
isn't afraid for her life. 

“Are we happy plastic people, 

Under shiny plastic steeples. 

With walls around our weakness, 

And smiles to hide our pain. 

But if the invitation's open, 

To every heart that has been broken. 

Maybe then we close the curtain, 

On our stained glass masquerade.” 

She loves the chorus for it tells it like it is. In a world full of war
and sorrow we aren't cheerful people. There isn't a place where we can 
go to get away from it all. Not one place, besides the church. The 


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