Become like who?

We spend so much of our lives trying to be like someone.  I remember when I was a kid who I wanted to grow up and be like. I thought she was the coolest person ever.  Could I ever be like her? No, but I could dream. When I began playing music, I had certain musicians I wanted to like. I wanted to play like them, do runs like they could, transpose on the spot and play without music. I wanted to be like them, but to be like someone usually takes some work, some effort and there are times, it doesn’t work. I can’t, regardless of how much effort I put into it, be like someone else.

And then, there are moments in life when we seize the moment to do something and it gives others a glimpse into our heart. For actually, when we open our hearts and love people that’s the best way to be like them. Love is the common denominator that bring us together. Being like Jesus, each one of us individually, tends to lead us to be more like each other because we have a common identifying marker.

I am not a bird person. Bird people know that birds are all different. They notice the wings, the colors, the beaks, the feet, the mannerisms about them thus all put together they see the birds as unique and different. I can tell a cardinal and a blue-jay but beyond that, they are just birds. Just like when my husband asks me what kind of car someone has, I say it’s white or blue. That wasn’t the question but that’s how I look at things such as cars…and tractors.

So we went to Africa. Now when you look at Africans and look at us, there is a distinct different in what we look like. We are pale, and  can’t dance! However, when in Africa, become like the Africans. So we jumped in with both feet. I held babies, loved on kids, took tons of pictures, played along with the guitar, laughed when I could understand the jokes, talked in simple English I never could get Shona- and tried to be like them in what limited manner I could. That all changed Saturday afternoon. We were sitting during a fashion show. These women take the fabric and create dresses, shoes, bags and strut their stuff on stage. From the older ladies to the young, from the creative to the simple it was such a cool thing to watch them model, strut, wave, throw kisses and in the midst of it I simply turned to my friend and said, “we should do that with that extra material”. Now, I was only kidding. We were not going to  sew a dress in 30 seconds, although the women with me were quilters so I already felt fabrically challenged.  One thing led to another and before we knew it we were draped, fitted, arranged and we were parading down the runway to model. It was silly- it was actually kind of dumb, but these 4 American women stepped into their turf and became one of them… in our very simple and feeble attempt to become like them.  The screaming, the laughing, the cheering, the hooting; well we were African! We were one of them. We had somehow in our feeble attempt to become like that, jumped into their heart. They already liked us. They already had become friends but suddenly we became like them…

Jesus, stepped down from heaven and entered our fashion show. Except he raised the bar slightly when he came down from heaven to become one of us.   We didn’t do anything unique, but we entered the stage as white Americans and left the stage as white Africans. Our hearts had brought us together in a way we couldn’t understand.  We still kept holding babies, talking in broken English and loving on the ladies but suddenly we were just a bit closer sisters and dearer Christians hearts.. And all it took was making a fool of ourselves. There are people waiting for you to get out of your comfort zone and do something to try to be like them for just a moment.  They are waiting for you to put your heart close enough to theirs so the  beats meet.  Once the hearts meet, God will do the rest!