I've been reflecting on transparency lately in the context of Christian community: how I cloak my filth in righteous clothing, hide my shadows in the light.
If I acknowledge I am fallen, why is it painful when sin seeps through my facade? When others notice that sigh of impatience, the tinge of anger in my voice. I joke, justify, or smile jovially, hoping it will mask the dirt emerged.
What I really need is a good righteous soak--let the holy water wash over Self-Sufficiency's scrapes and Pride's open sores. Allow the see-through liquid to seep through callouses, steep in my soul, stirring up love.
I was reminded of God's righteous clothes for his children last week. The boys tucked away for naps, I slipped outside in winter boots and scraped metal across driveway gray, until my shovel parted the white sea. Snow covered dreary nakedness, billowed high on dead bushes, righting all sin's wrongs.
Isaiah 1:18 - "[T]hough your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow [...]"