Day 6

Today is about shedding old skins. We all gain habits, hang-ups, and hurts that prevent us from living to our potential. These layer onto us like skins that we can't seem to shed. We all know that we can't move forward when we are holding on to the past, but something tends to stop us from letting go. It might be a fear of reaching out to the right person, it might be a fear of looking within too closely. Whatever it is, the art of shedding skins is something to be practiced and valued.
One of the most memorable passages in the C.S. Lewis series the Chronicles of Narnia is in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when Eustace's dragon skin is shed by Aslan. I read those books over and over when I was growing up, and there are many passages that I remember, but that one in particular was burned onto my memory. Or rather, that one in particular felt very real and applicable to me. For those of you unfamiliar, Eustace was a spoiled greedy and selfish child. He is on an adventure with some other people but separates himself from the group. He ends up in a dragon's lair surrounded by treasure, which he proceeds to claim for himself. This dragon-like behavior magically manifests in him actually transforming into a dragon. It is an awful fate, and Eustace is horrified of himself. Through some adventures in the story he relegates himself to his new form and tries to make the best of it, but at some point he is in the presence of Aslan, the lion king of this world (and in the spiritual sense of these books, a symbol of God). Eustace really wants to bathe in a very inviting pool, and he realizes that he is shedding a skin. He scratches and scratches at it, and manages to get one layer off, but stepping into the pool he realizes that he is still very scaly. He tries many times to scratch and scratch and shed this skin, and is marginally successfully but essentially he remains the same. Aslan steps in and helps him. It is very uncomfortable, because Aslan uses his strength and his claws to do a much more thorough job. Eustace must be wounded, and Eustace must have help to get this thick skin off of him, so that he can start fresh in the pool, very like a new birth. That is the consideration for today. We all have skins that we would like to shed. We all have behaved poorly, and not taken care of ourselves to gain these layers of hurt and baggage. We try like hell to scratch and stretch and purge them off ourselves, and it only gets us so far. Sometimes we need help, and sometimes we need to expose ourselves to potential hurt. Think about someone who could help you shed your old skin. Think about why you have been afraid to reach out to that person. Think about what happened, what dragon's lair, what impulse, what emotion, what hurtful event layered on to the human experience to cause you to take your current form, and what kind of help you might need to feel more yourself. What midwife do you need to help you be reborn into a fresh start, smack you on your behind, and tell you that you are loved?