Prepare your hearts, friends, for a meditation on self-tanner:) Actually, it's more about self-tanner, memory, and personal baggage.
Mama and I recently had an opportunity for a little side trip to the beach, and as we kicked back in our chairs at water's edge, wriggled our toes in the sand, and breathed in the beauty of our beloved Gulf of Mexico, we couldn't help but be amazed by . . . the stark ghostly whiteness of our legs, compared to those of all the other bronzed beach-goers. "They probably think we're vampires," I said.
As soon as we got home, I went straight to Sephora for some professional "tube o' tan." Now here's the story on self-tanner and me. Indoors, it looks great. A nice, healthy glow. But outside, in the bright light of a morning sun, I see streaks where I put on too much or white spots I somehow missed or blotches around my ankles that look as if I should perhaps occasionally wash my feet. In other words, I can't immediately see the effects of this thing I'm taking on. The same is true of elements beyond my control—things that alter me just because of the particular time and place where I happen to be. Until I felt a painful sting on those lily-white legs of mine, I didn't realize that the beautiful Florida sun in which my younger, tanner self could bask for hours was about to fry pale old me. What we experience willingly, as well as the things that just come down on us unexpectedly, can leave a trace. It takes the passage of time and clear, unfiltered light to get an honest look at the damage.
One of my mother's all-time favorite movies is The Way We Were, which also produced one of her favorite theme songs. (Aside: Mama is a life-long Baptist, but if Robert Redford were to join First United Methodist of Harpersville, I have no doubt that she would convert.) There's a line in that song that goes "what's too painful to remember, we simply choose to forget." It's a great line, but I'm not sure it's completely true. We carry some of our streaks and blotches with us, casting upon them an occasional glance of regret. But as we get older, we have to make our peace with them. We have to take them in hand, learn whatever lessons they have to teach us, and move on. They will always be part of us, but they don't have to define us.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have gained access by faith
into this grace in which we now stand.
And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our suffering,
because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character; and character, hope.
And hope does not disappoint us,
because God has poured out his love
into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
whom he has given us.
Romans 5:1-5
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