Honesty

Veritas vos Liberabit. The truth shall set you free.

My son, I write to you from a place of anguish. A place of guilt and shame; darkness covers my heart as I face reconciliation for behavior I’d only call, “the crutch of man”. Alone I sit, surrounded by emptiness, as I look down at the ashes of consequence. We are broken people in a broken world, and I am no exception. 

An age-old question you’ll one day ask is why God created sin. Why would a perfect God create something so devastating? The ability to hurt others, to enact violence, to harm, steal and destroy. With the breath of the divine came a human race, housed in flesh, designed to oppose the purposeful intention of its creator. An artist sculpts its masterpiece in a way that beautifully reflects the mindful image of their ideas, but God created us in a way that gives his creation the ability to chose their own mold. To be whatever it wants to be. Do whatever it wants to do and seek the paths it sees right for themselves. We call that free will.

If God designed us to be puppets, what pleasure would it bring for those that choose to love and follow Him? If Man was programmed to think in unison, in this utopian way of perfection, there wouldn’t be a counterbalance to suggest that anything was inherently good or right- because that’s the way everything would be. A hard truth about humanity, but the presence of brokenness is what gives shape to the beautiful.

Temptation, along with all sin, will one day lure and defeat you. Like a moth to flame, you’ll step outside the desired construct of God and take fate into your own hands. Another timeless play- man, trying to outwit its creator. Though I sound gloom, I’m here to deliver a message of grace. A grace found in redemption, but one in that God knew your fallacies before you were born. Unlike I, He knew you. He saw your entire life play out and saw your stumbling points. For that there is mercy and the free will for your response.

Find peace, son, in your stumbling. Worry not for your consequences but seek what is true. To understand yourself and why you act is one of the most powerful assets a man can have. And when you inevitably find yourself in the wake of misstep, be not like those who cower and blame, pointing outside for flaws within. But stand powerfully in front of the mirror and honestly confront your mistakes, no matter who you see looking back.

Sometimes facing yourself is the hardest thing you’ll ever do. Moments of private reckoning are dark because no one will know your demons more than you. The turmoil you’ll face confronting those demons is brutal, but I promise nothing is worse than keeping them in. Like holding on to a hot coal, the burden of guilt will eat you alive. Sometimes the onset is slow, giving the ability to minimize and justify future mistakes. A steep slope, son. You must confront your indiscretions. Take inventory, see, feel, address and move on.

Sometimes that mirror won’t be a reflection but another person staring back. Our greatest capacity for damage as humans is what we’re capable of doing to others. Joy in this life orbits around relationships, romances and making bonds with other people. The beauty in drawing close is the proximity that allows our radiance to flourish. To let our insides glow, sharing heart and mind; however, those two parts of the body are inherently full of sinful desire. In the weaponry of thought is forged the tools to deliver our lives in any direction. Careful as you chose, for once they are formed your body will follow with carrying out its mind’s instruction. 

The best way to handle your conflicts is directly, openly and honestly. Don’t cower to truth, no matter how difficult it seems. The pain we cause others can only begin to be rectified with a truthful heart- ironically knowing that untruthfulness, either with others or ourselves, is the root of most sin. Honesty is a light. Secrets are the dark. By illuminating our paths with reality we see things as they truly are. And in that process comes a deeper understanding of why we do what we do and the pitfalls we can map in the future. Moreover, hiding reality from ourselves creates a breach of personal integrity. It allows us to paint an idea of ourselves that’s different than the truth. Operating in this space admittedly is the most dangerous, for it will allow you living in a way outside of the real you. Thinking we’re one version of ourselves while being another is a road to destruction. Life will not show mercy on those walking with a front, and humility harshly visits those who hold themselves in an untrue esteem. Nobility, character, righteousness, integrity…they all have to be earned. Never faked. The highest versions of our psyche know, and feel, when we’re living in congruence. Nature will correct what it’s not aligned.

Nothing we say or do can undo a wrong. We can’t take back the past or change our history. I can give you a lecture contending that the past isn’t real. That all we have is the present, and the hope for the future. The past perspective is valuable, but standing in the middle of a crossroads with only forward directions, chose the road that aligns with who you are. Not who you want to be, should be or could be, but ruthless in your true identity. Start there, be honest, and admit your shortcomings. There will be the burn of reconciliation and you likely won’t be happy with what you see, but staring your demons in the face dissolves their power over you. That process creates space – opportunity- to move forward with a recalibrated sense of purpose and direction. And the courage to become the version of yourself you aspire to most.