Uncovering

I have a friend who has spent most of her adult life 'covered up', for a number of reasons. Today was so special, because she came to church with her hair down, looking really beautiful. I was so moved by it I welled up in the middle of the lunch club. All the way home it made me think about what God is like, and how he is bringing us all along on a process of being 'uncovered'.

When I read the story of Creation. It never fails to make me wonder, when I read that Adam and Eve were naked "and they felt no shame". Now, I'm not advocating mass nudism or anything like that, but I love the sense that in the beginning, in those moments of perfection, they were not ashamed of themselves in any way.

I thought about how different things are today, how we end up being covered up and hidden behind our choices, the ways we respond to pain and the mistakes we inevitably make. Sometimes, at the Boiler Room or simply in my day to day life, I meet people who seem so scarred and so hidden, it makes me sad that 'the real them' is buried so deeply.

I read in a book recently, that in a good relationship we should begin to 'open up like flowers'. Something beautiful happens as we open up and take a risk and trust another person. Maybe we do not perceive the change, for it is subtle and gradual, but the process of sharing and exploring and growing together something tangible happens.

This isn't just restricted to romantic relationships, in fact, I think it is limited to just view it in that context. I know the same thing happens as we grow in a friendship, and not only that, in our relationships with God.

Again, I think we hardly notice it at times, but the more time we spend walking with Him, the more He shows us it is ok to open up. When we experience His love, repeatedly, rescuing and providing and protecting, we begin to believe that He is good, that love is real, that this whole journey was worth the risk we took in beginning it.

This is what I see happening in my friend. I don't think it's about her becoming a Christian or not, that whole issue seems secondary to the way we can see love changing her, brushing off the darkness and rubbish and stuff she has been hidden under. She is beginning to open up, beginning to flourish, and it is a wonderful thing to watch.