Eternity Goggles

A Reflection on the Second Reading for August 4th, 2019:
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

​Colossians 3.1-5, 9-11

Brothers and sisters: If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. 

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. 

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 

In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

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“Acting perfect in church is like dressing up for an x-ray.” 

I pass a few church signs on my way to work, and they often cause me to laugh aloud. This one, though, caused me to pause. It speaks of authenticity—humility—truth. All things I can sometimes struggle with. 

When I am wearing lies or covering up my authentic self, I will typically suffer with feelings of insecurity, shame, isolation. But when I take off the camouflage (which requires courage), even though there is inherent risk, I feel free, alive, relieved.


At my son’s baseball game, a parent asked if I was taking any vacation this summer. My heart began to speed up and I paused—a longer than natural pause—before I finally stammered, “Well, I am actually going on a pilgrimage.” And then, I awaited the response...


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She (actually very quickly) said, “Oh wow! That’s really cool! I have often wondered about doing the Camino, but my husband feels less enthusiastic about it.” The conversation was smooth and relatively effortless, but I was still covering up a bit. I only revealed what I was comfortable revealing. And this would be ok except that it left me feeling inauthentic, and frankly, like a chicken.


It’s these seemingly small revelations of my heart that tug on me—nudging me on toward a more courageous existence. I want to exist “being renewed in knowledge after the image of [my] creator.” My creator is not fearful. His image is one that is unashamed, true, and real.


Ironically, I was paid a compliment this week as well, from a Christian friend, thanking me for being honest, authentic, and real. My head dropped a bit as I heard these words, knowing that this is not always who I am, though it is always who I strive to be.


The reality of life on earth is that we are taught boundaries and social constructs (Read: crafty ways to lie) in order to conduct a safe and acceptable (to the world) way of living. Much of our experience in this world too, lends to a closing off of the heart rather than an opening up. So how do we put to death the things that clothe us with inauthenticity? We put on our Eternity Goggles.


“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”


If we have been baptized (“raised with Christ”) and we know Christ, then we must “put on [our] new nature”. This is a nature of vulnerability, humility, authenticity—ultimately—Truth. And the Truth is nothing to be afraid of.


​Lori MacDonald

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