Authenticity

Comet *finally* sees a deer ~20 feet

            Part of the fun of long daily walks outside of town is that my dogs and I are seldom alone: passing farms we see cows and dogs and chickens, at the seaside we pass herons and ducks and terns, in the woods we see squirrels and muskrats and deer. And everywhere: biting bugs and honeybees and butterflies!

            This past week, I noticed some deer ahead of us. This was unusual, as I noticed them before the dogs - normally there is a perking up of ears and a swishing of tails that precedes a pull on the leash as my furbabies want to explore. Yet: the dogs weren't paying attention - until the deer moved, and suddenly canine consciousness kicked in and there was an alertness.  I found the delay to be amusing.

            Yet it evidently had an effect: Comet in particular has been much more attentive on our walks since then - to the extent that she has been pausing at decorative deer statues, just in case they happen to be real. But, no matter how long she stares at them, those concrete or plastic deer just don't move.

            There's something about authenticity: it's so much more than appearances.

            How much this can be applied to other areas of our lives, too: if we aren't paying attention, we might miss out on seeing something fantastic; and if we're not careful, we may mistake something artificial as authentic.

            In our faith journey, we are constantly invited to be attentive to the path around us, to make sure we are staying on the path, and that we do not stray. Yet: stray we do - it's human! But we can always try to do better. And we are sometimes distracted by inauthenticity; even if no ill-will is intended; we can be deceived by the ways of the world that may feel right or easy at the time - and again, we can always repent, return to God, and do our best to do better.

            Whatever we do: may we do it for God, in the love and law of the Lord, always trusting the power of the Spirit to lead us in authentic ways.

   And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

~John 3.19-21