“What’s the point of striving to get to the top, to be better than everyone else, to be admired, applauded and worshiped if in the process you lose that spark of life that makes you more than just another face in the crowd?  What need is so valuable you would be willing to give up the artist, musician, healer, or friend inside you in order to be better than all the rest? Have you thought about the path you’re on and what you’re becoming?” (my paraphrase of Matthew 16:26) I have found that there are times in my life when I've been shocked back to reality by an event or a person who revealed the truth in such a way that I simply had to take notice. Many times these sacred moments were completely unplanned and unknown to the other person, but for some reason they hit me unusually hard. Have you ever had that kind of moment? It makes you stop and think and usually for a long time. I believe we all create a story of the kind of life we hope to live out or perhaps are expected to live. In these stories, we all turn out to be successful, happy, and secure with loving relationship and perfect health. But our definitions are usually created by others, culture and a deep need for affirmation. Success is usually defined in terms of possessions, power and prestige, the more the better. Happiness is reflected in our insatiable desire for entertainment and our ability to satisfy our craving or lust for pleasure.  Security is usually defined by financial prosperity where we can afford to protect ourselves or replace anything life might through at us.  Still, I have found that there are a few things only we can define by our choices and actions, regardless of what we may say or believe. Integrity, dignity, trust, love, kindness, gentleness, and generosity are great examples. I'm sure there are others but this will suffice. It matters very little what you believe about these words, or if you believe in them at all. People around you already know what you believe by how you live. What you admire in others, what draws you to those you love and who love you, is what is really most meaningful to you.   You may, for example, dress like something out of Vogue magazine, yet use speak such foul language that proves it is all window dressing for an empty shell. To become more than a face in the crowd I recommend these three critical decisions to guide your life and your future. (1) Draw a line. Know what your values are and what is non-negotiable. People will continue to push you, test your values and try to manipulate you and control your life until you decide differently.  There's a story by Mark Twain who supposedly was on a steam ship en route to Europe. He encountered an attractive woman and perhaps inappropriately asked if she would sleep with him for a million dollars. Shocked but intrigued she said she would for a million dollars. Well he said, he didn't have a million dollars but would she consider sleeping with him for twenty bucks! Outraged and insulted, she said she would not, after all what kind of woman do you think I am. I already know what kind of woman you are, he said, now we just negotiating a price.

“Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make a man a more clever devil.” C.S. Lewis “Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere.” GK Chesterton

(2) Take Responsibility - who you are now and who you will become is no body's responsibility but your own. Until we as a people accept the power to choose, we become someone else's pawn.

“Until a person can say honestly, ‘I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday,’ that person cannot say, ‘I choose otherwise.’” ― Stephen R. Covey

(3) Stay Connected - we live in a culture of people trying to make a name for themselves, trying to look more different, more significant, more important. We can easily lose ourselves if choose to go it alone. Find a group that inspires you, challenges you and encourages you to be the best human being God created you to be. Sermon Notes:  Sermon Notes 06.23.13 Face in the Mirror1