The thrill of being known as authentic – the ego – in a John Lennon sort of way. I’m cool. I’m real – hide your hymnbooks, hide your piety - here I come. I certainly drank the cool-aid on this one. I’ve been using authenticity for years now to gain points with others and God. Amidst our hunger for significance, the heart can be devious. It has a habit of turning on itself.
Bible scholars have the same danger. Theirs is allowing intellectualism to be its own goal.
Artists sip on their own cool-aid.
Martha drank the Spray-n-Wipe.
These dangers abound because we all are weak. In the book of Matthew, the Bible warns us that ‘the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak’. Always Christ points us towards holiness as our benchmark. We tend to want to create a fancy-dress costume of our own making on our pilgrimage towards that goal.
Today re-focus with a time of quiet contemplation. Make your attributes work for good rather than for self.
“True silence is the rest of the mind and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment, and refreshment. ”