John 7: 24
“Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”
I love jangly-dangling earrings. I also love bright swirly skirts and swoopy-cauled sweaters. And shoes – oh my gracious -- how I love fun shoes!
My mother says not everyone can wear the things that I do. What she probably means is that no one would dare wear them. That's okay -- she's right.
When I choose a shawl for myself, I go for the flowers, shells, sequins, and tiny bells. I am not wild about fringe. The most beautiful shawl I ever made was for my mother -- metallic gray, tiny stitches, with lots of mesh; no embellishments. Mom hates embellishments. Shawls are shawls though, and both of these shawls served the same purpose.
Be careful what embellishments you add to a shawl. Shawls should reflect the recipient’s personality. The embellishments don't change the use of this shawl, but they can detract from the shawl’s usefulness. I would love spangly-danglies on the shawl and would wear it. My mother would thank me graciously for a spangly-dangly shawl, and hide it forever in the back of the linen closet
My faith has a lot of spangly-danglies attached to it: powerful prayers, enlivening songs, joyful tithes and offerings. But it is not the spangly-danglies that are important; it is the faith itself. I don't expect anyone to wear my faith, nor do I allow anyone to foist their faith on me. Faith is faith. The importance of faith is not how it looks to others, but how it is used.
My Lord, my Savior, my Beginning and my End,
I want to praise you every single moment of my life and keep praising You on the other side of mortality! I want to dance and sing and laugh with You. I want You to wrap me in your arms and hold me as I sob. I want to be solemn and honor the sanctity of your presence, too. Don’t let me distract others from worshiping you by my enthusiasm. Don’t ever let me judge someone who keeps silent nor someone who makes a spectacle of themselves while praising you. Keep my faith strong. Amen.
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