Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
"Who told you that you were naked?"...Endearing, profound and revelatory ...
I was tagged in a note recently with the title "Who told you that you were naked", deriving from Genesis 3:11. I'm sorry to say that I didn't end up reading the note, but the title kind of haunted me days after glancing at it. I believe it's safe to say that most parents think the best of their off-spring, mess and all. From the unidentifiable drawings to the oddly shaped clay that somehow is suppose to resemble you, it's innate to adore.
I believe the most important things God wanted Adam to know about himself was that he was created in His image, possessing the ability and power to assign value, to color His world with words, rule as opposed to being ruled, live and not labor, love purely and be loved. Until one day, that day we often joke about in light-hearted banter, when he was told otherwise. I also will venture to believe that the "serpent" represented more than what is read on it's surface. What has someone told you that, as a result, caused a sense of self consciousness or that thing that you never realized that made you hide like Adam? I remember being told a story about a little boy who went to school one day and received news that rocked his little world. This little boy, after being picked up from school, proceeds to share with his mother that he was told he was African American. Now the little boy no longer sees himself as just the unstoppable Hulk Hogan, but by the color of his skin. The mother had a compassionate heart, recognizing the innocence of her child. I can imagine the compassionate tone God had towards Adam, realizing his innocence was gone. It was factual that the little boy was African American but before then, he only lived on the truth that he knew about himself. Truth that his family loved him. Truth that he could be anything he wanted. Truth that he wasn't lacking anything or in need.
It was indeed factual that Adam was naked, but he lost his truth all because of what he was told about himself. The truth of who he was was robbed by a fact. I'll use myself as an example. I have some cosmetic flaws. That's a fact (:-/). But I'll tell you this, I lost the truth of my beauty because I was made aware of my flaws by someone who was close to me. You could have a slight slant in your smile that you never noticed, but it's not until it's been pointed out that you notice it every time you take a picture. Then it turns into a complex, when before you were uninhibited. When I really do some self reflection, the main things that I have a complex about are things that have been put on spot light, overshadowing who I was made to be. What has been said to cause you to second guess yourself, your ability, worth or who you are? For the sake of modernizing, in other words "Who told you anything other than what God made you to be?"
I was tagged in a note recently with the title "Who told you that you were naked", deriving from Genesis 3:11. I'm sorry to say that I didn't end up reading the note, but the title kind of haunted me days after glancing at it. I believe it's safe to say that most parents think the best of their off-spring, mess and all. From the unidentifiable drawings to the oddly shaped clay that somehow is suppose to resemble you, it's innate to adore.
I believe the most important things God wanted Adam to know about himself was that he was created in His image, possessing the ability and power to assign value, to color His world with words, rule as opposed to being ruled, live and not labor, love purely and be loved. Until one day, that day we often joke about in light-hearted banter, when he was told otherwise. I also will venture to believe that the "serpent" represented more than what is read on it's surface. What has someone told you that, as a result, caused a sense of self consciousness or that thing that you never realized that made you hide like Adam? I remember being told a story about a little boy who went to school one day and received news that rocked his little world. This little boy, after being picked up from school, proceeds to share with his mother that he was told he was African American. Now the little boy no longer sees himself as just the unstoppable Hulk Hogan, but by the color of his skin. The mother had a compassionate heart, recognizing the innocence of her child. I can imagine the compassionate tone God had towards Adam, realizing his innocence was gone. It was factual that the little boy was African American but before then, he only lived on the truth that he knew about himself. Truth that his family loved him. Truth that he could be anything he wanted. Truth that he wasn't lacking anything or in need.
It was indeed factual that Adam was naked, but he lost his truth all because of what he was told about himself. The truth of who he was was robbed by a fact. I'll use myself as an example. I have some cosmetic flaws. That's a fact (:-/). But I'll tell you this, I lost the truth of my beauty because I was made aware of my flaws by someone who was close to me. You could have a slight slant in your smile that you never noticed, but it's not until it's been pointed out that you notice it every time you take a picture. Then it turns into a complex, when before you were uninhibited. When I really do some self reflection, the main things that I have a complex about are things that have been put on spot light, overshadowing who I was made to be. What has been said to cause you to second guess yourself, your ability, worth or who you are? For the sake of modernizing, in other words "Who told you anything other than what God made you to be?"
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