The Day After

Last night we tricked-n-treated our way around the neighborhood - dressed up silly and running on sugar.  Today we're trying to remember what normal is.

Wowie-wow-wow, to quote Junie B. Jones.

It was fantastic fun being super-cool Ferb, from the 2nd Dimension:

Yes ... that was the color of his hair.
So glad it shampooed out!

Ready-to-Bust Candace from Phineas & Ferb:

We tried to get the pointy-head look ...
but in reality, Candace is a cartoon character!

A sparkly, fluttery, glittery butterfly:

She flitted from house to house -
until her candy bag weighed more than she did.

And Perry the Platypus ... or Agent P when she was willing to keep her fedora on:

Surprisingly enough, she wore her hat almost all night!

Yes ... I stapled her tail to her shirt.

She actually looked a bit like a Hobo Playtpus ... which, of course, added to her cuteness!

It is certainly fun to play dress-up ... getting to be someone else for a spell.

These are the pre-sugar smiles!

But not at the expense of forgetting who we truly are.

Sometimes as grown-ups, we play a different kind of dress-up.  We put on our best face, we rehearse our lines ("I'm fine ... and you?"), we do what is expected of us and we follow the script we have written for ourselves as closely as humanly possible.  And somewhere along the line, we lose touch with the real person inside.

When we find ourselves out of touch with our real selves, it's time to take the costumes off and re-introduce ourselves to, well ... us.  Sometimes we can do it on our own and sometimes we need a little help from someone who hasn't forgotten who we are.

Sara Groves has a great song about just this.  Big surprise, eh?

Undone
by Sara Groves

Baby can you help me get undone
The party is over and their hearts were won
There’s a zipper in the back
But I can’t reach it on my own
And I am dying to get out of this so

Baby will you help me get undone
I don’t even remember how I got this on
I started out pretending
Now I don’t recognize myself
And I could use a little help

You have no pretenses

All your walls are fences I can see right through
You have no two faces
You know where our place is and that’s why I need you
Oh baby

Baby will you help me get undone
I truly believe you are the only one
Who will be the best reminder of
Where I am coming from
So if you’ll help me now I want to get undone

Cause I started out pretending
Now I don’t recognize myself
And I could use a little help
Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby
will you help me get undone

But even then, with the gentle reminders of a friend, we sometimes have trouble finding our authentic self.  There is a residue of a mask even with our closest companion.  And it's then that we have to turn to the One who sees past our costumes and our scripts ... and Who can help us get undone.

¹ You have searched me, LORD, 
   and you know me. 
² You know when I sit and when I rise; 
   you perceive my thoughts from afar. 
³ You discern my going out and my lying down; 
   you are familiar with all my ways. 
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue 
   you, LORD, know it completely. 
⁵ You hem me in behind and before, 
   and you lay your hand upon me. 
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, 
   too lofty for me to attain. (Psalm 139:1-6)

It is a scary and humbling thing to consider being seen and known completely.  Seen and known, searched and discovered, hemmed in from all sides, held in His hand ... and found to be worth all that care and attention.


I think we can do two things in the face of such examining and exploring.  

We can try to hide from Him ... which won't work, by the way. (See the next few verses of this same Psalm.) Or we can let Him sift through us, casting away the masks and disguises we hide behind and revealing the authentic person within.  The genuine article.  The real you.

You may have been wearing your costume for a long time.  No problem.  Consider today the day after ... the day to be undone.

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As an added bonus to my day, my little name blocks are being highlighted over at Rook No. 17.  Thanks, Jenn!

For more fun ideas for your holiday table, pop over and see what else she is showcasing!