The Tempting Pull of Perfection

Genuine. My grandma was a pretty genuine person. In most cases she was the person everyone saw her to be. She was straightforward to the point of blunt, a little rough around the edges but she had a beautiful caring heart for people. Whether it was received positively or negatively she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, but in all of it she was honest. Honest about herself and about others. She didn’t seem preoccupied with what others thought of her. She wasn’t perfect, she made her share of mistakes but…she was pretty authentic.

I try to be authentic. But it’s not always as easy as you think it would be. Expectations get in the way. Selfishness interferes. Pride surfaces. Fear creeps out from behind the corner. Sometimes I’m tempted to be real only to the point that it becomes uncomfortable. Then I retreat a little bit back into the shadows of the mystery, back to the place where I feel safe because fewer people know my faults and weaknesses. I don’t think we set out to be fake but I wonder if it’s kind of like convincing ourselves that we’re not lying when we strategically withhold part of the story. Why do you think we feel the need to do that?

Who are some of the most genuine or authentic people you know? When I think about those people I start envisioning how I might be more like them. Being around genuine people is infectious. The way they live invites you to cross over into the authentic side. Authenticity isn’t simply being an open book, but knowing the appropriate time to share a few deeper paragraphs. The more genuine people I know embrace both their strengths and their weaknesses in ways that bring honor and glory to God. They are authentic because they live in the freedom to walk beside me through this life as together we share in the peaks and the valleys and the journey back and forth between the two. They are real because they know life is not about what they can do but about what God can do through them.

The authentic are not perfect, they simply seem to recognize the tempting pull of perfection as she softly beckons us to live as hypocrites…and they turn a deaf ear. Sure at times they may listen, but more often than not they walk forward in faith trusting the One whose love for all of us defines authentic!

Yoga-ing Break for Education's Sake

The only Yoga I knew growing up in school was the furry friend of BooBoo, who enjoyed swiping "pic-i-nic baskets" and "terrorizing" park rangers. But today is a new day and apparently there is a push for some in the school system in other parts of the country to begin to incorporate yoga into the class schedule. The reasoning? Student's lives are so busy that a daily dose of yoga could do wonders to help students better cope with the stresses of their hectic lifestyles. The hope is that this meditative outlet will not only foster greater learning opportunities because students can be more rested and focused, but that it will also help students become more balanced and disciplined people along the way.

Now, Yoga may be a helpful tool to combat the extreme busyness that plagues both young people and their families, I don't know. I'm not trying to say that yoga is a bad thing here. But what strikes me as ironic about this whole conversation is that our society is so caught up in the routine of busy lifestyles, that even when we talk about ways to address feeling overwhelmed and fatigued we don't talk about removing activities from our lives but adding one more thing to help us deal with it all! Are you kidding me? I'm afraid that as a people we are fooling ourselves into thinking we can control this "runaway freight train" lifestyle which says the more you can fit in to a day, a week, a month...the more productive or successful you are. I think it's a false truth...one that ultimately will lead us to crash and burn in a pile of physically and emotionally exhausted rubble.

What's more is that I'm not sure we as Christians do a great job of dispelling the lie either. Our lives are just as full, our schedules just as busy as those around us. The irony for us is that even though we read and know the words of Jesus we fail to believe them, let alone live by them...

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)

Life can already get pretty hectic for me and I don't even have kids yet. I don't know how that variable will add to the busyness equation for me one day. But it seems like this is one area that must make us distinguishable from the world. Even the life of God was lived out in the appropriate ebb and flow between work and rest. We have good news to offer people...it's a real possibility for our lives to dwell in the rhythm of God's rest!

Yet somehow I don't think yoga is exactly what God had in mind...