FUZZY WUZZY BEARS

Remember that old camp song, Vacation Bible School song that says "If I were a fuzzy-wuzzy bear, I'd thank the Lord for my fuzzy-wuzzy hair"? And then concludes, "I just thank you Father, for making me me." Cute? Of course! But fuzzy-wuzzy bears are more than cute. They are creations of God. And so are all those other animals in the song -- butterflies and billy goats and wiggly worms. And so are you and I. We're cute, too. But we're more than cute, too. Much more. Like fuzzy-wuzzy bears we too should thank God for making us who we are.

Sometimes that is rather difficult because sometimes we don't like who we are. We stand in front of the mirror looking just as God created us and we get an inferiority complex. And it doesn't help in the least when we pick up a magazine and see all those quote "beautiful people" pictured. All that does is make us moan and groan some more about our physical shortcomings.

Nor does it matter that deep down we know that beauty is not only in the eye of the beholder, it is also more than skin deep. Yet so often we are blinded by what we see. We find it difficult to get beyond and below the surface, past the outward appearance. But we have to do that if we are going to be able to be and become that person God created us to be and who we really are, "For making me me." Me, not someone else.

There are some parts of us we may want to change: our weight or hair color, for instance. But if we do, we need to ask why we want to change. If it is to help us be better at being the person God created is to be, fine. If it is to be other than we who are, not so fine.

We should not need to be reminded that God loves us just as we are, the way God created us. Now that may not be the same thing. We may have changed by trying to be someone who we are not. But only we know that. We know why we are doing what we are doing, even if we do not like to admit it. Yet, in order to live out our faith, we have to be the person God created us as, not the person we want to be.

Maybe fuzzy-wuzzy bears are lucky. They can only be fuzzy-wuzzy bears. You and I can be so many things other than who we are. But it is only when we begin to love ourselves as God loves us, with all our so-called "imperfections" that we can really begin to live out our faith. Besides, an imperfection is a contradiction to our faith. God does not do anything imperfectly or create anyone imperfectly. What we consider imperfections are really our particular and personal God-given differences.

As long as we concentrate on our differences, it will be impossible for us be that person God created us to be because we'll still be wrapped up in ourselves and won't have the time or the inclination or the desire to think of, let alone help and serve, anyone else.

Living out our faith begins when we can thank God for bald heads, flat feet, bulging waistlines and all the rest of those differences that go into “making me me”. Living out that faith follows. But not until then.