There is Authenticity in These People

And into the world are born those spirits, those souls, those persons, who light the way for us out of whatever darkness we are in.

These can be mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, teachers and ministers, coaches and mentors. They can be the neighbor or the employer, the elderly or the young, the broken or the mended, the friend or the lover.

These are people who do not do things for us, they show us how to do things for ourselves. They model. They instruct. They affirm and nurture. They live and love before us in ways that influence us to be our better selves.

They are not always successful, well established, or even well known. They may be on the cleaning staff at the office, or the clerk at the grocery store. They may be the stranger we pass that smiles broadly and shares a sense of warmth as we walk by them. They may be the cop that pulls us over, gives us a calm warning, and sends us on our way.

There is something in these people that give our spirits a lift, that help us see the little things that are often the big things, and who remind us to be human and honorable and hard working.

They don’t preach to us. They don’t scold. They don’t take on airs and condescend. They don’t bully or berate or intimidate. And they don’t judge us or anyone.

There is authenticity in these people. They don’t cheat others. They work they don’t just get by. They show compassion. There is heart in their actions. They come from a place of depth, of graciousness, of maturity and insight.

These people do not impose their beliefs on others. The simply live them out in honest ways. They do not say, Look at me. Instead, their actions make us look at ourselves and ask, Can I do better? Can I live more fully?

They are not without flaws, but they have learned to manage their flaws and turn them into opportunities to grow. They are not without error. They sometimes fail. They sometimes fail miserably. They often wrestle with their inadequacies and seek to develop them into capabilities. They know fear. They know hurt. They have walked the way of the offended and the offender and they have learned there is pain in both.

These people resist the temptation to hate, to retaliate, to attack. They let the consequences of actions have their way. As they always do. Whether there is Karma or not, they have discovered that we all end up paying for our bad acts. No one may see the cost but us, but it is there, and it is deep, and if it is not confronted then it confronts. And in the end, we change, or we ruin.

But these people are not pushovers, they are not doormats. They know how to face an enemy, how, as Teddy Roosevelt said, be one who “is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly.” These people are to be taken seriously. They have something to teach us.

These are those who know they have a dark side, as we all do. But they acknowledge it, and they seek to tame it. Rather than allow it to push them into humiliating situations, they put it to work blowing up balloons for kids at the party. They take it by the shoulders and say, Not today; today I’m in control.

There is groundedness in these folks. They accept they are from the earth. They identify with nature and animals and all that breathe and live. They worship the sky and the stars, the ocean, and the trees. They see color. They hear the music of the wild. They are at home here. And they treasure their existence.

I follow these people. They are my heroes. I want to be in their influence. I want to follow them to the point that I, too, am one of them.

© 2018 Timothy Moody