Those Little Tux-Wearing Birds

One penguin looks at another and says, “It looks like you’re wearing a tuxedo.”
The other penguin says, “Who’s to say that I’m not?”
--- from A Prairie Home Companion

I like that joke, partially because it has to do with penguins. They’re amusing birds in and of themselves. I also like the joke because I’ve attempted to explain the humor in it numerous times to certain people with no real success. But the humor points toward a deeper question, a question that may be funny when applied to a waddling, black and white clad bird, but seems painful when directed toward your own life: Am I hiding my true self?
I read once that we spend most of our lives trying to make our lives safe places. Before I moved to Tennessee, I visited the area with a friend of mine. We sat out on the porch of a cabin in the mountains and talked as the fireflies twinkled. “I think most people are running,” I said. “We run toward or away from something.”
“Not me,” he replied.
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not running toward or away from anything. I’m hiding,” he said. “The rest of you can run all you want, I’m hunkered down and hiding out.”
He was making his life a safe place by hiding. And in that hiding, he hid who he really was. “I’ve got it all figured out. I’m at peace. I’m in control. Who’s to say that I’m not?”
We all hide at times. We hide who we are, what we feel, what hurts us. We cover over the fears and doubts. But it only looks like we are “tuxedo wearers.” The reason we take the time to suit up is the same reason that Adam and Eve hid themselves in the Garden of Eden after sinning: fear.
We think, “I can hide who I am. I can escape. I can run away. I’ll ‘hunker down.’ No one needs to know the real me. I’ll lose control if they do. Keep the distance; it’s safer. Maybe I can fool some of them. Maybe even God.” Most certainly, you can fool yourself. All due to the fear of being known.
God’s initial response to the sin of Adam and Eve has always interested me. Adam and Eve sewed coverings of fig leaves to hid their nakedness and they hear “the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden” and “Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees” (Gen. 3:8). Then we find that question that tears at one’s heart, “Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (3:9).
There are those who say that God’s question to Adam and Eve shows that He is not all-knowing. That’s not the case at all. God was asking Adam to be honest. Did God know exactly where Adam was, what he did, and all the consequences of his actions? Absolutely. The question gave Adam the opportunity to be honest about his sin. As the old preacher said, “God didn’t ask because He didn’t know where Adam was. He asked to see if Adam knew where Adam was.”
Maybe you’ve been something you are not. More accurately, maybe you’ve seemed to be something you are not, and you have put a great deal of time and effort into making your life safe by hiding the “real you.” Perhaps you’ve come to the point where you have to let someone know you honestly. Maybe you’ve come to the point where you need to know yourself honestly.
Then again, maybe God has asked you, “Where are you?”
“Here,” you say.
“It looks like you’re wearing a tuxedo,” He replies.
“Who’s to say I’m not?” you retort.
“Me,” He says.

Dustin George
Minister to Single Adults
www.sevierheights.org/ministry/singles