Douglas Adams died last week. I remember reading Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in high school and loving it. Adams’s passing got me thinking about another book I read during that time, Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach.
To be honest, I can’t recall much about the storyline now. But one line a character spoke stuck with me. “Live your life so as never to be ashamed if something is published about you. Even if what is published isn’t true.” I remember memorizing that line at the time and thinking it was a great philosophy.
Think about it. In order to make that a reality, you would have to be secure in who you are, in everything you’ve done, and all that you’ve said over the years. I wish I could say I’d never made a mistake, said the wrong thing or made the wrong decision; I have. But I do feel I’ve stayed true to the person I want to be. I’m not perfect, far from it. But my mistakes were honest ones. And I’ve made fewer as I’ve gotten older. I’ve learned to take myself less seriously, to value others more than myself and to keep my mouth shut unless I know I’m adding something positive to the conversation (although this one I still struggle with!)
It’s interesting to think about in this day in age. With the media ready to pounce on anyone for any indiscretion, is there anything you would change about your life? Anything you wish you would have done differently? I wonder when our life is done here, will we be forced to watch those mistakes and see how they affected others? Perhaps that’s what God’s grace is all about. For now, on this side of things, I will continue to try and not be ashamed by anything I say or do, even if CNN decides to broadcast it!