Discovering the Truth of ME

If life's journey should teach us anything, it should teach us the value of honesty. We all have experience on how hurtful dishonesty is. Yet,in my own life, it is easy to forget that value, to seek to please, to say what the other wants to hear, or to paint a picture that isn't quite true.

I think that when we do this, when we present ourselves other than what we really are, we go down wrong paths. We get that job, or position, or friend because we've made them believe something about ourselves that is not so. And that leads us to places we should not be.

I recently had a very important interview. During the interview, I spoke from my soul, giving answers that came from my truth. I did no pre-rehearsed statements. I did not take hints from the questions, or try to match my answer to some agenda. I gave them the real me.

Later, driving home, I wondered about that. After all, we are taught in interviews to match the criteria. And I did do that. I just didn't exaggerate or mislead. I didn't pretend to anything. Should I have? 

Then I thought, I gave them my best, because I gave them my true self without guile. If this particular thing I  applied for is for me, this will be what they wanted. If it isn't, then it is better I don't receive it. In other words, to try to force my life down a certain path by a particular scripted agenda probably leads to more heartache and less fulfillment. More distraction from the purpose of life and less finding my destiny.

Do we believe we are being led? Then why do we need to pretend to anything? "Seek the truth, and the truth will set you free" Jesus said in John 8:32.

When we seek the truth, it must not just be about things outside of ourselves. It must also be ourselves, me. And finding that truth isn't enough. I must then live that truth through honesty. It takes a lot more courage, faith and trust than one realizes! But it does set one free.

The Journey Reveals only what we Accept

Honesty. It is so necessary in our lives, our spiritual even more than our temporal. Honesty requires awareness. None of us can step back and look at ourselves and see what is really there. Not at first. It takes years of self-reflection, evaluation, discussion. Honestly must start with ourselves.

Honesty must also direct our relationships with those we hold dear in any way. To have a relationship that reaches beyond the superficial requires a trust that allows me to share with another my authentic self. To do so, I must trust in her ability to respect who I am. Such trust invites reciprocity, begets transparency, and yields honest conversations.

This brings us to our relationship with God. 1 John 4:20 says for the one who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. Our ability to be honest with a brother, sister, friend, partner really affects how honest we truly are with God. For the pattern begins with the tangible here, and only an authentic relationship will teach us how to relate with the God we cannot see.


I believe the first step really begins with myself. My ability to see God depends on my own honesty with self. It's as though the looking glass to God is me, and until I clean the mirror, I cannot find the God within. The cleaning solution is honesty, a true sense of myself, an acceptance of the who I really am.

In  effect, our journey can only reveal to us what we are first willing to accept.