We live in an interesting time.
A heroic decathlete has disappeared,
and a woman named “Caitlyn” has taken his place. She’s on the cover of Vanity Fair this month. http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/bruce-jenner-makes-debut-as-woman-1201509326/
I’m sure many will rant and rave and blog about this in the coming days, so I’ve decided not to add to the discussion. I’m going to take the wimpy high road and leave it for others to theologically dispute.

But what I want to talk about is what’s under all this.
The quest to become who you really are.
Laying aside the sexuality piece, this is a struggle that touches us all.

For most of us, it’s not as dramatic or public or life altering as Mr./Ms. Jenner.
But we are all on a quest to be who we are meant to be.
For some (as we’ve seen this week), that means a decision to change what it is we have.
But for others, it means the courage to live what it is we have.
Whether it’s a season of suffering or joy or heartbreak or challenge.

Sometimes living our life requires just as much courage as changing our life.

But living our life also means leaning in to our unique voice- whatever that voice may be. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we live in a culture that screams, “If you do it THIS way–you will be successful.” In my current quest to write, that translates into:
10 ways to blog effectively…14 topics to write about that are “felt needs”… 8 social media steps you must do daily if you want to be anyone at all.
This is the “how to list” in front of me. It may be similar or different to the “how to list” in front of you.
And off we go–running after each piece of advice that will help us do what we need to do, the way everyone says we should do it.
But when we do that, we miss the unique gift we have.

The one that hasn’t been written about, acted on, or invented.
The one God placed in us to give.

And that is our real quest, isn’t it?
Not only to discover who we are.
But to live what we have been given.

And shine.