Have you lost your muchness?

When Alice arrived in Wonderland for the second time there was some debate about whether or not she was "the" Alice that they were all waiting for.  They were anxiously anticipating her return because they knew that she was going to be the White Queen's champion on the Frabjous Day making things right in their world by defeating the Jabberwocky. 

Yes, I realize this all sounds a little bit ridiculous but stick with me for a minute.  

When she meets up with the Mad Hatter he immediately assures his friends that she is indeed "the" Alice.  He says that he would know her anywhere.  But after being with her for a little while he notices her reluctance to slay the Jabberwocky, a feat that would save them all from the terror of the Red Queen's rule. He notices that she no longer has the fighting spirit she once had.  This is how he tells her.

He looks at her sadly and says, "You're not the same as you were before.  You were much more...muchier.  You've lost your muchness."

It is a funny way to put it…but have you ever felt that way?  Like you have lost your muchness? Life has beaten you down, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t muster up the energy to keep getting back up? But deep down inside you just know that your muchness is still there somewhere!

This is where Alice was but slowly she began to realize that the people of Wonderland needed what she had to offer and that light began to grow inside of her pressing her forward. 

2 Corinthians 4:7-10 puts this idea into context for us.

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.  Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

And so regardless of our present circumstances we must reach down deep and get our muchness back because the world is waiting for it!

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.  2 Cor. 4 16-18