Just Picture Everyone In Their Underwear

When I was in eighth grade, I ran for President of my class.  I got up on the platform and stepped up to the mic in my red, blue, and yellow striped white overalls.  They covered a brilliant royal blue, long-sleeved, collared shirt.  On my feet were lavender Chuck Taylor high tops with fat royal blue shoelaces.  On my head were as many waves as I could get my barely shoulder-length hair to perform.  I was quite the site to see.  Before I spoke, in order to decrease the nerves, I had one tip given to me - picture everyone in their underwear.  I think most of us have heard this one.  Why does it work?  This morning I was reading Richard Rohr's book, Everything Belongs, and it reminded me of this tip because of what he said.

"We are all naked underneath our clothes, much more alike than different."  

When we know we are the same as everyone else, we don't need to fear anyone else.  That's what the underwear does - it levels the playing field.  He discussed how we are all ashamed of the same things and afraid of the same things and we are all seeking the same things.  He says that we are "desperately afraid of having no power and not looking good.  We fear poverty, and we fear being ordinary."  Clearly, I feared being ordinary when I wore what I did to give that speech!

Will Reagan and United Pursuit have an amazing song that represents how to get to this mindset.  It's called  From Head to The Heart.  Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=18&v=FSol3_QZaaI
One of the coolest lines that they bellow out to God is this:

"There's no shame in looking like a fool when I give you what I can't keep to take a hold of you."  

Wouldn't that be so cool to live without the fear of shame?  Not caring whether we look foolish to onlookers or not?   If you've read the children's story, You are Special, by Max Lucado, you are familiar with the group of wooden people called Wemmicks, who allow stickers of stars (positive) and dots (negative) to be stuck on them by their peers according to how they perceive them.  Lucia is the only Wemmick with no starts or dots.  Punchinello just has dots.  He wants to be more like Lucia, so he asks her how she has become like this.  She sends him to Eli, the woodcarver.  This is what Eli tells Punch;  "The stickers only stick if they matter to you.  The more you trust my love, the less you care about their stickers." This is exactly what Will Reagan and those who advise others in their fear of public speaking are getting at; when we only care about the opinion of One, the reactions of others just don't really matter anymore.  But, how do we get there?

"From head to the heart, you take me on a journey, of letting go to get lost in you."  

If you are familiar with Centering or Contemplative Prayer (if not, there will be an explanation in the upcoming weeks), you are aware that one of the goals is to allow our thoughts to descend from our head to our hearts, and then think from that space.  Sarah Young explains it as opening your mind and heart to receive Jesus' heavenly smile of approval (like the photo above), then allowing God's love to soak into our being.  Catherine Myss describes it as a falling into our own soul and away from the world.

This is the space from which we are to see others.

When we can see the heart of others from our heart, rather than our head, here is what happens:

* We stop judging and categorizing.
* We see what we have in common rather than what separates us.
* We see what is underneath that which we use to present ourselves to others and visa versa.
* We do not fear others - their opinions, what they may do to us, or how they could make us feel.

"You will understand but it will take time.  You've got a lot of marks.  For now, just come to see me every day and let me remind me how much I care."  - Eli the Woodcarver

Centering Prayer, resting in God's love for us, moves us to a space where there is no longer a threat of shame because we become centered on who we really are, and we are content, just like Matthew 5:5 promises. "You're blessed when you're content with just who you are - no more, no less.  That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought."(MSG)  Just like the song says; we have given Him what we cannot keep, but taken hold of what is priceless.  This is when we realize that, at the core, we are all the same, and this is the beginning of living lives of compassion.