[read in the voice of peter]

One day, g-- and his roommate, chuggs, were arm-wrestling.


And lo, it came to pass that in the days of Friday, we decided to go shopping. Yea verily.

And verily verily so we doth clothed ourselves in faire raiment.



My shoes were especially key.



Good thing we had sweet wheels.

SWEET SANDBURG/PARNELL WHEELS!


But once we started driving, we had to wade through some ponderous CSI Miami.

My smile, as cheesy as that time I acted for a Lifetime film, beat back the melodrama in yellow tones.



It cost slightly less.


Then, after a prelude longer than the set-up for a Cheers! joke, we were ready to pick out sweet schwag.

Intellectual types and fans of the West Wing, we picked out books.



Some of it was just odd.





(Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

The same could not be said for this:


But I love the guy. Not as much as I love Michael Cera (he's good in everything), but I still love him.

W/vest:

Nice arm:

Glam!:



But, much like every History Channel show, our day was ruined by aggressive and speedy zooming in and out on a grainy black and white picture vaguely reminiscent of the 1960s.


And we concluded the night like:

&

Oswald Chambers:

"All of God's revealed truths are sealed until they are opened to us through obedience. You will never open them through philosophy or thinking. But once you obey, a flash of light comes immediately. Let God's truth work into by immersing yourself in it, not by worrying into it... If you obey God in the first thing he shows you, then he instantly opens the next truth to you... Yet God will never reveal more truth about Himself to you until you have obeyed what you know already. Beware of becoming one of the 'wise and prudent' (Matthew 11:25). 'If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know...' (John 7:17)."

Me:

What is it that you've been shown already that you must obey? This healthy introspection leads to obedience.

This is an article that captures a piece of something I've been thinking and talking about, living authentically. In our culture, I think being geniune and being recognized as genuine is an essential trait. I encourage you to read the whole article. Below are some clips and my thoughts.

Authentic Phony

by Gregory Spencer

Authenticity requires an inside-out consistency. The most straightforward reading is: "Be who we say we are." ... not only should we "be who we say we are" but... we should use words that are consistent with our other actions.

Being genuine is a two-way thing. We must act consistently with our words and speak consistently with our actions. More importantly we must have the right inner motivation, we must be motivated by the twin loves (of God and neighbor). Everything must be in line with this single truth; saying or doing unloving things is readily apparent and easily justifies accusations of 'hypocrite' or worse. This should cause things like our views of "church discipline" to be more about restoring loving relationships and less about maintaining rightness.

Authenticity requires a rigorous commitment. The word "rigorous" adds to the definition because... it tells us that authenticity is hard work. For one thing, we must be tough-minded as we compare our attempts at authenticity with the realities of the situation. We are not being authentic when we act out insecurities based on inaccurate conclusions of what others think of us...

This challenges me. Too often my motivation is to make everyone like me. This results in me acting differently with different people. That's not necessarily bad, but the use of "rigorous" here tells me I need to be constantly checking my motives. Living authentically means that this motive-checking shouldn't paralyze my life with constant self-consideration, but rather seeking to actually live in real situations as I ought.

Authenticity requires courageous love. Courage could be called the "parent" virtue of authenticity. It takes courage to tell the truth, to be genuine, to resist the falsifications that our culture encourages. To be sincere when others are being wickedly sarcastic takes bravery. And love must inform our actions...

This contrast of sincerity with sarcasm cuts across a lot of what I say. Of course it doesn't mean that I can't be humorous, and being courageous doesn't mean being mean. I think it means that real love ought to motivate everything I say. Love qualifies our courageous truth telling. A confrontation motivated by love looks different than a confrontation motivated by being right. Living an authentic Christian life is a bold, work-in-progress synthesis.

Defining courage in speech (especially) is difficult, prone to over-statements. The author adds these caveats:

First, authenticity is not "cruel honesty," as if we are justified saying whatever is on our minds. Authenticity practices a gracious honesty... Second, authenticity is not "indulgent transparency," as if we are noble for divulging our darkest secrets... Third, authenticity doesn't mean we never act insincerely...

Living authentically is a hard thing to define. I guess I know it when I see it. I recognize a lack of it in myself easily. But its a challenge worth embracing.