Soft and Shielded

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. – Psalm 139:5 (NRSV) 

Armadillos look like tiny tanks, shuffling around in their own built-in armor. They aren’t fast, flashy, or loud. They’re not trying to prove anything. Just soft creatures wrapped in a hard shell, doing their own thing. 

I wonder if God had a little fun making the armadillo. A creature that carries its own paradox, right out in the open. A divine wink, perhaps. A reminder that tenderness and toughness aren’t opposites. They are companions. Both are sacred. Both necessary. 

We live in a world that often expects us to choose: be vulnerable or be strong. Be free or be resilient. Be accepted or be guarded. But the armadillo says, both, please. 

Maybe you’ve learned to build a shell. Maybe it was survival. Maybe it still is. That’s not shameful. It’s sacred. And still, underneath that armor, there is softness. Curiosity. Longing. Love. 

God knows all of it. The layers. The reasons. The stories. 

Psalm 139 says we are hemmed in. Not trapped, but held. Not armored, but embraced. Not hidden, but known. Surrounded by a God who sees through the shell and does not flinch at the soft parts. 

You don’t have to be all exterior. And you don’t have to be all heart. You get to be both, wonderfully and beautifully. Like the armadillo, you get to move through this world as a living paradox: protected, beloved, and fully alive. 

Wholeness doesn’t ask you to choose. It welcomes you as you are. 

Prayer
God of softness and shield, thank you for making us whole, tender, strong, and cautious. Teach us when to curl in, and when to courageously move with grace through the world. Amen.

About the Author
Phiwa Langeni creatively invites others into transformational liminal spaces between what has been and what is yet to be. They currently serve as the Associate Conference Minister for Equipping Leaders in the Southern California Nevada Conference UCC.