"I am going the way of all flesh.
Take courage and be a man.
Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways
and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees
…that you may succeed in whatever you do…
From 1 Kings 2
Of all the wisdom I learned, or perhaps it might be best said "of the little wisdom I learned," in my study of philosophy something that has always clearly stood out is the saying "To thine own self be true."
When we look at the great heroes and fathers in the faith, when we look at the patriarchs and prophets, indeed when we look at the Lord himself, we clearly see individuals who were true to their hearts. Certainly, in the Lord we see this perfected. It is his being true that stands out most clearly. That is, it is his truth to himself, his truth to who he was and what he valued that made the real difference in his world as he sojourned on earth as a man among us.
If we want to be imitators of Christ, if we want to follow his ways, and if we want to know him as he is, we need to understand that he lived a truth that transcended the truths of first century Palestine. Jesus took the notion of righteousness and showed his contemporaries what it really meant—he radicalized the meaning of faith, forgiveness, healing, disease, disability, justice…in his own person he showed us what it truly means when we speak of God.
Jesus intended for us to know and live with the same clarity of sight, with the same allegiance to the values of truth that he lived. Jesus stood clearly in opposition to the falsehood and hypocrisy of his times. As his followers we must learn to see his path clearly and to walk upon it ourselves. It is a path that demands the destruction of the falsehoods that pass for true faith. It is a path that invites us to walk upon it in a different pair of shoes than what we have become accustomed to wearing.
We should always look from the positive; that is, from what is in order to decide what to do. We may look to those whom Jesus chose to embrace. Might we find a mission among them? Might we find a thread in common with those who cry for mercy, yearn for grace, pray for healing, and long for acceptance? Might we find Christ by looking deep into the eyes of the poor, the sick, the sinner, the convict, the enemy?
To follow the way of Christ is to take the courage to be human. It is to take the courage to be true to yourself, to be true to your calling. In doing so we find real meaning in life, and certainly it is not without its risks to stand with humanity; to stand without the benefit of being veiled by the falsehoods and presuppositions, by the fully accepted half-truths and no truths of our day. The Lord calls us to walk in light and to be who we are. The path begins to unfold slowly…we begin to see what lies ahead.
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