“Everyone hides who they are at least some of the time. Sometimes you bury that part of yourself so deeply you have to be reminded it’s even there at all. And sometimes you just want to forget who you are altogether… I’m not the monster he wants me to be. So I‘m neither man nor beast. I‘m something new entirely. With my own set of rules. I’m Dexter. Boo.” ~ Dexter Morgan (Season One, episode # four)
Dexter is a series chronicling the life of a serial killer prowling the streets of Miami is bound to leave viewers with many quotable moments. Dexter, a blood spatter analyst for Miami metro often shares his dark thoughts with viewers, allowing fans of the show to delve deeper into the mind of the meticulous serial killer played by Michael C. Hall. Because Dexter only chooses to kill other psychopaths, he has good characteristics as well as the obvious negative characteristic of being a psychopath himself. Michael C. Hall delivers each line so brilliantly that it is easy to forget that he is only playing a character.
Dexter is one of my favorite TV series because it has some hidden theological viewpoint on how it applies to our life. I have seen many people who have been victims of Dexter Morgan persona even ME too! Maybe you said to yourself, “how come!”
My simple question, do you have a secret or dark side in your life that you never wanted anyone to find out?
When I first saw the first season of Dexter, it arouses my interest to continue to watch it the whole way until the final season (eighth). This character, Dexter Morgan truly blew me away. You know why? It is simple answer is we are secretly leading a double life where your immediate family members, your spouse, and your close friends don’t even truly know.
I let alcoholism define my identity and turn me into monster where I don’t see it as a monster. I used alcoholism to justify my own pain. I used different kinds of schemes in an attempt to find a way to get money to get all hard liquor to make matters worse; I stole many hundred dollars so I can get more hard liquor! I confessed I was once very devious minded person. Many people who have been dear to me said they cannot image I was alcoholic addicts because I was busy fooling them with my infectious smile! Even at worse, I was very hypocrite Christian, I led Bible study, preached several sermons, and also been active in different ministry activities.
I tried hard and harder to hide my addiction to alcoholism and continue wearing fake mask in showing off how good Christian I am! To make matters much worse, I secretly drowned myself in booze when I was working as a social worker and I used booze to justify my overstress at work. Little I did realize, it is slowly destroying my work performance and even my work relationship with co-workers and clients too.
In reality, I am truly a MONSTER where my soul is very ugly and filled with many unspoken pains, I chose to become victims of Dexter Morgan persona. Little I did realize that my action has hurt many people who I truly loved.
The verses flooded in my thought as perfectly fits about hypocrisy which apply of being victim of Dexter Morgan persona:
“I hate all your show and pretense-the hypocrisy of your religious festival and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteously living.” ~ Amos 5:21-24 (NLT)
God spoke to His people (Isarelites) through the prophet Amos because God knew their heart is darkened and been into something else to ease off their pain in their own souls than to truly seek God. Israelites perform the religion ceremony without any true commitment to God because their heart is not after God!
Alcoholism turned me into a different person else than actually who I am. I went outside of God’s unique design of identity, of who I am! See how it was paralleled with the character of Dexter Morgan, he used different kinds of schemes to cover up the track which points to himself as secret serial killer. Little by little, his secret life as serial killer was unraveled (I prefer not spoil the storyline what was told in season one to eight if you want to check out yourself). Also, Dexter wasn’t being completely honest when he performed his duty as a blood spatter analyst for Miami metro.
So do you have your own dark side where nobody knew? Have you been running from something for a long time where you are at this point, you are truly lost a far from being yourself?
The truth is… For the past nineteen years, I have been running a far from who I am. I finally learned the truth as God just wanted me to be myself and seek God with the whole of my heart as what the prophet Micah said:
“O people, the Lord has told you what is good and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” ~Micah 6:8 (NLT)
Broken Chain Journey 