I recently saw an ad for a bathing suit that resembled a skirt with a long sleeve shirt. Which as a mom of three, I am totally down for. The more stretch marks that I can hide the better. However, I also recently saw a photo from the early 60’s of women being measured to ensure the correct amount of bathing suit they shrouded their bodies’ with. My mind works in curious ways. I instantly see a rhythm. When a person is restricted they push the limits encasing them. There is a sense of euphoria once the barrier is broken and the first taste of freedom oozes through them. Then that freedom fills up the space allowed. Next it eventually hits another barrier and begins to be as restricted as it once was.

So we as people are coming to a full circle, maybe. Or simply up to another barrier. Example: a woman from the sixties who won her bikini fair and square watched her daughter shift through the sand in a bare minimum thong, and is now watching her granddaughter cover her body up more modestly. Why? Because people get bored. They have this rooted sense that if they can just get to the next step all things will be grander, better. Once they are nestled into the next step and get all cozy, the new begins to wear off, the excitement fades, and now they need something new. New and better. Before long, it is all mugged up and no one really knows how to judge what is better or what is basically different. Then they revert back to a comfortable stage and begin again.

In life there will always be times of extremes and then times of reverting. Look at housing décor for instance. We have come from dirt floors to marble statues to wood pallet bed frames. Without the trials of extremities we as people would never truly know where we prefer to be. Just as a toddler test limits, we continue as adult and full societies.

I choose to believe God hardwired us in this way, so we can find our homes within ourselves and surroundings. It is all part of the process of coming to the Lord with our whole souls. Extremes have there place. Limits have theirs. And because of that we find where we belong.