An Authentic Me

I always tell my friends that if a restaurant has to use the word “authentic” in their name, then I am more likely not to eat there. I am a Mexican American with a huge love for authentic Mexican cooking, that I have come to learn I can only find in someone’s kitchen or in Mexico itself. If the restaurant has to proclaim itself as authentic then there is something wrong. Most of the places I like to visit to satisfy my Mexican food cravings, which are mainly street tacos or tortas (delicious Mexican sandwiches), are popular because of the quality of their food and not by their name. They have the simplest or oddest name like “Las Tortugas” (The Turtles) or “Lupe’s Tacos”. Not to mention their locale itself is not the “fanciest” or largest for that matter, and yet people crowd in to get their food.

You see, the reason why I am talking about authentic food is because I feel that generally we long for things that are authentic. I am sure people would rather have an authentic signature and photograph of Payton Manning from the Denver Broncos and not a copy of it. Girls would rather have an authentic Gucci wallet and not an imitation wallet. You would rather have an authentic and sincere happy birthday on Facebook from your friends and not the usual greeting. You would rather have an authentic performance by your favorite musician and not a lip sync performance. You get the picture right?

So if we rather have authentic items and/or experiences, then why is it that we alone refuse to be authentic? How can we long for an authentic filled life when we don’t allow ourselves to be genuine with ourselves and with one another? This is something that I struggle with myself on a day-to-day basis. Regardless of the fact that I know I am a child of God and that I strive to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, I am still easily influenced by the world and I don’t even realize it!

I hate to admit this, but I have even caught myself trying to be “authentic” and I find that to be the worst. When I intentionally try to be different from others to stand out or to proclaim my originality perhaps I am not doing it for the right reasons. I mean, Jesus did not walk around defying the Sabbath laws to cure people because he wanted to be cool and stand out. He simply did it because he responded to the truth within his heart and within his Soul. He lived a life that reflected his true identity. So I often ask myself, am I living a life that truly reflects my true identity?

Granted that I know we are not perfect and that it is in our human nature to make poor choices, to trip, to fall and well to sin. We can be selfish and proud. Yet, recognizing our weaknesses and accepting that being God’s children in this world is not easy enables us to grow and to battle these shortcomings that we will most likely struggle with throughout our whole journey. We are meant to stand out and to be different; but, not for our own self-glorification. Rather, we do it as a response to His love for us and for His greater Glory. I will leave you with two of my favorite quotes from Thomas Merton.

“We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves.”

“We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for the being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have – for their usefulness.”