Peek-A-Boo

Exodus 34:29-35

One of my absolute favorite games to play with toddlers is peek-a-boo. You know the game; an adult (usually an adult) hides their face with both hands and quickly opens them, usually making some kind of a goofy face to the child at which she/he bursts into laughter. The game is repeated until, well, until it stops. If you've ever watched the game being played you can't help but laugh along with the faces being made by the adult or the laughter of the child, or both.

There's another phenomena that is associated with this game. If you look real close you'll see something you may or may not have noticed before; the face of the one hiding behind the hand usually begins to shine - it really does. The shine isn't from embarrassment because I don't know a single adult who gets embarrassed playing this game. The shine isn't from breathing into their own face for a few seconds at a time (at least I don't think so). So why does the face shine?

If I may venture a guess I would say that as the game is played a very close bond between the child and the adult is being formed and this bond touches deep within the soul which creates a feeling of peace joy, the kind of joy that only happens when we are at absolute peace with who we are and what we're doing. Joy is something we yearn for, especially the kind of joy that comes from being able to just be yourself without judgement; such as it would be with making goofy faces to a child.

I would like to think that Moses felt this same joy as he faced God (I don't think he made faces at God, though) and whenever he left the presence of God that joy was so great his face continued to shine brightly for all to see. Unfortunately the people gathered with Moses could not understand this joy, not yet anyway, so Moses had to hide his face so as not to frighten them.

There is no joy greater than that of knowing we are accepted and loved unconditionally. This knowledge allows us a freedom to live a life that will eventually allow us to begin loving others in the same way, and to begin loving God in the same way God loves us.

Just one more thing...peek-a-boo!