“This is Me”
By Tracy Smith
“You made all the delicate,
inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”
Psalm 139:13-14
(NLT)
I recently saw the musical The Greatest Showman. While I understand
that the movie was highly fictionalized, I enjoyed the idea of a person giving
the marginalized in the world a place to belong.
After I saw the movie, I was talking
to my youngest son (who had only heard the soundtrack) about our favorite songs.
We each had a different favorite - - until
he saw the movie. There is something powerful in seeing music paired with a
story, and that power changed his favorite song to the same as mine: “This Is Me.”
In the movie, Barnum gives the hidden,
marginalized people in the world… a place to shine. A place to feel that they
are important. That they matter. That they contribute to the world. But then,
Barnum temporarily loses his way and publicly rejects those he had previously
accepted. It is at this moment that the Bearded Lady sings:
“I am not a stranger to the dark
Hide away, they say
'Cause we don't want your broken parts
I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars…
No one'll love you as you are
Hide away, they say
'Cause we don't want your broken parts
I've learned to be ashamed of all my scars…
No one'll love you as you are
But I won't let them break me down to
dust
I know that there's a place for us
For we are glorious…
I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be, this is me…
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me” [emphasis mine, 1]
I know that there's a place for us
For we are glorious…
I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be, this is me…
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me” [emphasis mine, 1]
What the movie is
missing though is why we are
glorious. We are glorious because that is who God made us to be. [2] We are the work of His hands, and each one of
us is given unique talents and strengths to be used in order to further His
Kingdom. [3]
Beyond what this means for us personally, this should also change how we treat others. Recently, our pastor did a sermon on Genesis 1:27. He explained that we are all created in God’s image…ALL. One of the points in his sermon was, “Every person is to be treated with dignity and respect.” [4]
I think this idea
resonated with me while I watched this movie. We are ALL glorious because God
made each of us that way. And because of that, we should treat everyone with dignity and respect.
GOING
DEEPER:
1.
When interacting with someone different than yourself, what can you do
to remember to treat him or her with respect?
FURTHER
READING:
Along with being a wife and mother
to two teenage sons, Tracy is a ministry assistant at Oakwood and works with a
great group of Junior High girls.
