True Colors

There comes a time when you must let everyone know who you are, who you really are.

Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." - Luke 4:14-21

We all have a hidden persona.

There is the person we present ourselves as in the world, the one we have been practicing to get right all our lives. And then there is the person we know as us.

Rarely do we let anyone in to see the real us. Oh, we may think we do, but do we really? Do we fully bare our souls to anyone?

We can argue that we do with the one we love most dearly, that perfect soulmate of ours who knows us better than anyone, but even there, we may hold back, even if it is just a little thing.

Jesus had a hard time keeping people from seeing beyond the facade into the depths of his true persona. Many whom he healed saw glimpses of it. But no one saw it all.

So, when he stood before his family and neighbors, people who knew him from childhood, and he said this is who I am, what did he expect they would do?

You would think we would always want to show the world who we are. Why pretend to be who you are not?

But we don't let just anyone in, do we? We need to trust them. And Jesus may have felt he could trust his family and neighbors.

But the better you know someone or think you do, the harder it is to see the truth.

So, what should we do? Should we show our true colors all the time? Or should we hold back and raise the flag only when we can trust the one who sees it?

More to come...