Truth

Sometimes it is hard to hear the truth.  It can be ugly, less than desirable, and quite painful.  It is as if we are forced to look in a mirror shattered by reality to see the true self hiding within.  Sometimes we need to see the truth within that we so vehemently deny.  Yet the process is never easy or comfortable.  I often find myself listening to someone tell me something that almost seems as though it is a dream.  In my nightmares the conversation begins like this; “The underworld dead are all excited, preparing to welcome you when you come.  Getting ready to greet you are the ghostly dead, all the famous names of earth.  All the buried kings of the nations will stand up on their thrones with well-prepared speeches, royal invitations to death: ‘Now you are as nothing as we are!  Make yourselves at home with us dead folks!’” (Isaiah 14.9, 10)  In real life things are not really much different.
 
Ironically, as hard as it is to hear the bad things about ourselves, I find it is even harder to hear and accept the good things.  We all have parts and pieces we would like to deny even exist.  We make mistakes.  We grow old and weak.  We also have much that can be admired.  We are children of God’s.  We have the freedom and ability to give birth to extraordinary love, compassion, and acts of kindness.  In our best moments we are a pleasure to be around. 
 
It seems natural to ask which is closest to the true “you”.  Is it the ugly side or the wonder?  Is it the painful side or one which brings comfort?  Is it what we are or what we long to be?
 
Divinity sees us, you and me, for what we are.  We are known, accepted, and most of all loved.  In the midst of the ugliness Divinity calls us daughters and sons of God’s.  One cannot speak of who and what we are without telling the whole truth; we are the kids God loves.