Divine Shine

Chameleons are curious creatures. They have the unique ability to change color. How fascinating! Sometimes these color changes help regulate body temperature, adjust to the light, or send signals to other chameleons about their moods. Did you know this? Many of us are more familiar with their secondary use of color-changing: camouflage. When I think of chameleons it is this. I imagine they use their color-changing to blend into their surroundings. I wonder why it is that though this isn't their main reason for changing colors, it seems to be the one that we are most familiar with?

Maybe it points to our own desires. Camouflaging, the ability to disappear or fit in seems like a superpower! Aren't we rewarded for this often? Fitting in, adjusting to circumstances, and the communities we are part of is often rewarded. Have you ever felt strange or different? Or felt like everyone else got a playbook on how to exist in this world? Whether we grew up in a space with little representation of people who share our identities, have been told that we are too much, or just find ourselves longing for community, the desire to be a chameleon, to blend in, can be overwhelming.

Yet, is that what is healthiest for us? Even when we are honored and rewarded for being who people want us to be, is that truly our healthiest and best self? What is God's desire for us? This week we join Moses in Exodus 34:29•35 and imagine what it means to unveil ourselves.