Sunday, July 18

As in water face reflects face, so the person's heart reveals the person.
—Proverbs 27:19

The pane of glass freshly cleaned opens us to the world beyond. The dust has been cleared away so that what was a blur can be seen with definition. This is an image of the authentic life. When we have cleaned the pane of our life in order to be authentic, we find we become a window for others to the world beyond. 

This authenticity is grounded in being the best we can be without sham, excuse or apology. It is to love our "self" into what it can become. It's so seductive in our culture to be other than what we are—to be like someone else, to hide our inner being, to be what people want or expect us to be rather than dwelling in the truth of our own unique, yet universal, being. 

A lack of authenticity drives us far away from our own beating heart, fills us with anxiety and stress, and ends up destroying our inner beauty, because we are living a lie. Facing who we are, no matter how inadequate we have come to believe ourselves to be, is the beginning of living an authentic, real, honest and beautiful life. 

And, it's the only way to truly make a difference in the lives of others.

Give me courage, O God, to stare at the truth of my own life so that I may know the truth of your love.

These Signposts originally appeared on explorefaith in 2003.