Hide and Seek...

"The man and his wife were both naked and unashamed."

-Genesis 2:25

So we find in the Genesis story, that Adam and his wife (no mention of a ceremony...interestingly) Eve were originally naked and unashamed. They were created that way. There were 2 "named" trees with fruit. You got the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (fascinating stuff, the desire to label things good and evil)...and the "tree of life". I could spend a good bit of time talking about how we still choose the "good and evil" tree today in so many ways over life. Nevertheless, God says...you can have any tree...but the "good and evil" one...you will die...something in you will die. Serpent comes along and frames the story differently from God. He also frames the choices differently. "You won't die. You'll actually have your eyes opened. You'll be more alive." Interesting. Eve believed the serpent...took the "good/evil" fruit and ate it and passed it onto Adam. The Genesis story then says that they "eyes of them both were opened"...which is what the serpent promised...but that they "knew that they were naked" and they "sewed fig leaves together" and made "apronlike girdles". Amazing. They hide. Eventually, God comes walking around and they hide behind trees. Fig leaves with each other...trees with God (thicker I suppose). Adam says "I heard the sound of you walking around in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked...so I hid." Fear. Shame. Hiding. Lies. It's all there. We see it flesh out not just in the Genesis story but in life.

I'm afraid...of what you'll think...of what you'll do...of what you think about me...that you won't love me...that you won't accept me...that you'll act like you love me but talk about me behind by back and I can't trust you. I'm ashamed...of what I've done...who I think I am...you couldn't love me...I'm human...I've been hurt...I've hurt people...I'm ashamed....I'm defective...I'm not enough.

"I know the truth about me."

"If you really knew me, you wouldn't love me."

"I'm not worth it."

"I have to acquire value. I have to acquire acceptance."

So we hide...in our work...in our abusive drinking...in our drug abuse... in our sarcasm...in our religious activity...in our words...in someone else's life...in our secret relationships...sometimes in our smiles...on and on and on. It's a game we learn as kids but perfect as adults.

I'm coming to believe that the heart of the message of Christ is to invite people out of hiding into life. God is inviting people our of darkness into light. Out of lies into truth. Out of death into life. Out of the system of fear and shame and chains into freedom and love...real love. The kind of love that brings freedom and casts out fear.

"You will know the truth and the truth will set you free."

-Jesus

The cool thing is that we are becoming people who encourage others out of hiding by journeying down that road ourselves or we are becoming people who, often without knowing it, encourage people to hide, by not journeying down that road ourselves. Are I connected with people and places that encourage me and enlighten me to come out of hiding? That's a pivotal question. It's not a solitary moment...it's a journey. If you find yourself in the blessed friction of that place, you gotta know, you're not alone. You never have been alone. You never will be alone. God is always with you, of course, but there are so many others who are finding life by...strangely...giving up the game and calling it the load of crap that it is. That it's not what God's doing in this world...in fact it's what God is undoing in the world to ultimately make things right.

It's in that journey that we find the way we see the world changes. The way we see God changes. The way we believe God sees us changes. The way we believe God sees everyone changes...for the better...on all accounts. We begin to see what is real...what has always been true. We take off the shades we've been see things through and hiding behind to find a world of "beloveds" who may or may not know that reality. We find color. We find beauty. We find love. We find life. It all starts when we decide we don't want to play the game anymore...we want to play for real.