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Saturday, March 3, 2012

Dressed for Success

Many years ago, when I was born, my parents wrapped me in a baby blue blanket and named me as their first boy. I was dresses with boys clothes and given boys toys and on my 5th birthday I got to dress up as Spiderman in front of all my friends. From the very beginning of my life I was identified as a male and that is something that can never change. Everybody is identified as somebody and that is who they become but a lot of people try to assume the identity of others. I saw this picture and it is cute but it has a couple of meanings to me.


It's true that the most important thing is to be yourself, but there are times when you have to wear different outfits. When I go to work I put on my uniform, hat and my work boots to walk around in the dirt. When I get home I clean up and comb my hair and get comfortable because that is what I like and that is who I am. No one can tell me that I need to wear my muddy clothes in my house and sit on my couch and play with my kids when I am wearing my dirty work uniform. If you want me to be something I am not then you are telling me that you dislike who I am. I hear a lot of people saying how others are judging them because they were born a certain way and that is just how they will always live their lives. I don't every want to be called judgemental again, but I don't want to hide the truth, in that I see we are all trying to identify with someone or something each day, and we struggle with this identity crisis. You see it on shows like American Idol where people aduition and get their moment of fame even though you would never listen to their voice on the radio. Their parents and friends have always told them that they can sing like Carrie Underwood but the judges don't let them through. They believed so much with their whole being that they would be the next big winner but they leave the show crying and sometimes cursing. Its a harsh reality check for them but they are not the only ones that have to face the ugly truth. The truth about every superhero with a cape in a comic book is that they all have a weakness when they are not in uniform. That is why you should "Always be Batman" when you can because you know that truth that you cannot always be Batman. We as the human race are like a grain of sand in the ocean, compared to the universe we live in, but there is hope when we can show respect and decency to our fellow human being. Read through the rest of Romans 13 in the bible and see that our true identity can be found in a real Superhero.

Romans 13:8
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet,"t and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

Galatians 3:26-28
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Brian,

I heard this statement recently and it really resonated with me:

"EVERY life has a story."

When I start thinking judgmentally, I try to remember that. It's like some of my negative thoughts are purely reflex and I have to train my mind to think and react on a higher plain. Not always successful, but at least being conscious of the need to think differently is a step in the right direction!

Gwen Haag
Fairport, New York