Wemmicks
A few years ( more like a lifetime ago) I was in play. Yes, Yes. I took Drama as an elective. And no, I didn’t play Jane Eyre. Or Belle. Or Dorothy.
I was a Wemmick…. which is basically some sort of wooden figurine (I'm waiting for a call from Hollywood any day now).
And judging by the picture above I’m pretty sure I was in middle school when I was in this play. So the fact that there are teenagers nowadays who can contour their face and do their hair baffles me, because I seem a little too content over here being a Wemmick; having yet to use a straightener, and wearing one of those tiny bubble shirts that use to be cool.
But I’m a sucker for children’s stories with a grander theme. So it’s no surprise that children’s books, especially Christmas ones, have a similar effect.
Polar Express; I hope I'm 80 and can still hear the bell.
The Crippled Lamb; His disability led him to the Creator.
The Grinch; He learned the meaning of Christmas and his heart grew 3 sizes ( yes, I know the monologue. I told you, Hollywood should be reaching out soon).
So maybe as a lonely, lost 7th grader, I understood the underlying message of this story and that’s why I’m smiling so big?
Maybe. But probably just excited about the bubble shirt.
“You are Special” by Max Lucado is about The Wemmicks, a group of, um, people? who spend their days plastering others with Stars and Dots. If you are good, beautiful, funny or rich - you get Stars. If you mess up, embarrass yourself or have imperfections - they give you Dots.
The Wemmicks devote all their time to this.
What a weird plot. What people group would spend all their time giving people Stars and Dots, or hearts and comments to friends and strangers alike….
Yeah, crazy.
Eventually the main character meets someone who has no Dots and no Stars. She’s just her. He learns later the reason she has no Dots or Stars, is because other people’s opinions - her status, her flaws, her mistakes, her successes - don’t matter to her. And because they don't matter, the compliments and the insults don't effect her. The dots and stars don’t stick, because she doesn't let their opinions hold enough weight.
"The stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust…..the less you care about their stickers.”
We are coming up on a season where it’s easy to compare. It’s easy to feel left behind, not far enough along, or not good enough. It’s really easy because there’s pictures all over the place to point it out. To remind us that if we want stars, we have to post enough to look like it’s all together. And to avoid dots, we have to push down the pain, put on smile and pretend to be okay.
As magical and sparkly as this season is, it can leave a lot of us feeling like we haven’t measured up.
It could be watching, even from a far, someone else get the things you want - the marriage with the pretty Christmas cards, the house with pretty wreath, the baby pictures with Santa.
It could be the Holidays serve as a reminder of all the things you didn’t get checked off on your list this year. All things you were going to do, but failed to.
It can be interacting with family who, even if they mean well, can create added pressure and hurt, to an all already unknown future.
Or it could just be that you bought a cheap Christmas tree last year that looks rather puny in your new house, but you know if you wait until January they will be on sale, but you really just want to buy one now, because what will all the people who come over think?? Wait, okay getting too personal.
It’s the big and it’s the small. It’s the dots and it’s the stars.
And it only sticks if you let it matter to you.
Remain in the Truth that you are where you need to be. Rest this season, in the fact that you are enough.
Enjoy the remaining parts of this year knowing that you bring worth to the table.
11/29/2019