thoughts on authenticity
9 Jul
During my time in Oregon and specifically Southern Oregon spent with the AMAZING Hodge family i spent a lot of time thinking and talking about what authenticity is. How does it look? Is it the same for me that it is for you? Does it mean i share everything with everyone? What is it?
authentic is defined as….
-genuine
-made or done in the traditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an original
- based on facts; accurate or reliable : an authentic depiction of the situation.
- relating to or denoting an emotionallyappropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life.
And obviously thinking about this for the past 10 days i have come to the conclusion that authenticity is different for each person. Each of us have a level at which we feel like we can be authentic. We each have safe people to be authentic with. I think there is sometimes a little bit of a stigma around being authentic….it is easy to be that when life is good and things are going well…to me at least, and maybe i am the only not perfect person here…but when things get hard i find myself not wanting to be authentic.
I want to hide….and it makes me think about Adam and Eve in the garden. they hid because of their shame. and i know they hid from God and all, but i think we do the same with God and others in our lives.
It is easier to just say that things are good, or ask for a general prayer request than to be gut wrenchingly honest. But in the past week or so i have realized that it is in those moments when authenticity matters. when being genuine is put to the test and it is the rubber meets the road time.
