hide & seek.

when i was little, i learned a game called hide & seek. i loved it and all of my friends loved it because it gave us yet another opportunity to discover. i remember asking my mom lots of questions throughout my childhood; sometimes she would tell me the answer, and sometimes she would say, "look it up" or "sound it out."

i believe that many of the things we learn as children are foundational to how we view things as adults. for example, when playing hide and seek, did you love to be found? did you love to seek? did you love to stay hidden as long as possible, as your siblings or friends agonized over where you were hiding?

i always had a hard time staying hidden. my mom said that when we would go shopping i would hide in the middle of the circular clothes racks. she would find me by listening for my giggles. i probably saw her feet or something and thought it was so funny that i could see her but she couldn't see me. but, part of me thinks that i didn't mind being found all that badly.

especially in the individualist society i live in, everyone has something they're hiding. eventually it comes out, but not without pain, shame, reluctance... i was thinking about how john mayer awhile back told some tabloid that he would give them a large sum of money if they were able to uncover a mug shot of him. i can't remember if they found it or not, but the point is, i remember reading that. obviously the tabloids weren't the only ones intrigued by mayer's secret photo.

sure, we want to be accepted by the people around us so we hide things. but the thing is, if the people around us aren't the type of people that we trust enough with our junk, why do we really care about their acceptance?

i'm saddened that we all want what we want so bad that we hold onto things for prolonged periods of time, letting their grip on us, their power over us, our attachment to them, grow so strong and deep, that when the hidden-whatever has been released or sought out, it's done more damage than ever thought possible. so much that we are blind to its beginning and its actual affect on us.

going back to my story about how i hid from my mom in the circular clothes racks, i think it's key to point out that she found me by listening. maybe we do hide things and maybe people hide things from us, but are we listening to what is really going on? are there clues to be sought after? or, when people are trying to seek after our hidden-whatevers, do we stay put? refusing even to breathe in hopes that they'll leave you be and the game will continue?

however, in the same breath, i think it's important to remember:

"do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. for everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." - matthew 7.