die and become

Opening Prayer: O Lord, forgive us for hiding and cowering and covering.  Give us the courage to ask you to peel away all of our self-protective layers, so that we can become exactly who and what you created us to be.  For there is no way we can become that unless we are willing to die to all that is false within us.  Amen.

Scripture: Genesis 3:8-10

Journal: How are you still hiding and covering?  What is underneath all of the layers of false beliefs and patterns and accumulated facades?  Will you let go of them and allow God to show you who you really are?

Reflection:

     die and become

dragon skins and fig leaves

myers-briggs profiles

and enneagram numbers

they are all just the same thing

cherished illusions

survival strategies

manufactured selves

protective coverings

subtle creations

of our own deepest

fears and needs

camouflage

costumes

disguises

that is until

we crack open the shell

let go of the pretense

and leave the husk behind

it takes great courage to do so

because it feels like our death

which in some ways it really is

but to continue to live falsely

is a worse fate even still

for only when we let go

of all that is false

will we be truly free

for God to show us

who we really are

Prayer

Closing Prayer: O Lord, have mercy on us.  The Fall was far more drastic and dramatic and devastating than we can ever fully know.  Apart from a work of your Spirit, all we will ever be doing is peeling away the accumulated layers of illusion and falsehood.  Help us, O Lord, to have the courage to turn to you, to let go of all of our false patterns, and to allow you to show us who we really are.  Only you can do that.  Amen.