Most of all: to thine ownself be true

Shakespeare's famous words in Hamlet are as true now as they were then and we are rudderless without them. We seek to please others and conform to their wishes at the expense of our own and we are miserable. To either live by fearing men or pleasing them is to fall down a precipice. It is impossible to live that way for long. We become a thing untrue to ourselves and we lose any sense of individuality. People form our opinions for us: it so much easier that way instead of battling falsehoods to break through to truth. We become PC and parrot the popular catchphrases and then we wonder why we have lost our passion.

To long for acceptance is a natural human trait but not at the expense of our person hood. To live by your convictions is to live like a salmon swimming upstream against the constant current of conformity, but to live without them is to slowly die.

Have you ever stood against a roomful of people with a contrary opinion and held your ground? I have. My first experience was at the ripe old age of thirteen. The subject was social conformity. I wasn't the most popular person before or after that class but I felt an exuberance that comes from being true to my beliefs.

I'm not journaling the events of my day; I seek to make contact and to build bridges and to bring clarity through all the things I've struggled with and fought through. Why? Why should I even care? Because the love of God compels me. What does His love compel in me? To believe His work in people's lives even when they don't know that it is Him. To believe the best in people; to see the spark of hope and to fan it into flame, because I know what it is to grope my way in the darkness and long for light and company and direction.

I used to be a youth pastor and I have mentored many young adults. When I tell them that I believe in them: their gifts, abilities, talents, calling and even their half-formed thoughts and budding character--they are usually astonished because they know I really do. That kind of love and trust in God and others has a transforming power.

There are enough people and situations in life that will crush you but who will look at your life with confidence that you are not so lost, broken, or damaged that you are beyond hope?

I love the passages in the Bible that speak of God taking the ruins of our lives and building something beautiful out of them. He doesn't start with perfection: He starts when we give up and offer Him the broken pieces of our lives.

"The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins. He will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing." Isa. 51:3,4 (NIV)

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jer. 29:11 (NLT)