Church and Gaga

Yeah, they go together. Just stay with me on this one...
Last week, one of our new pastors came to visit us at our home. I feel like we were honest and straightforward with him when we discussed what we were looking for in a church: a place where we wouldn't have to "try" to be anything. We could just be who we are, which is a bit shy at first until we feel comfortable. We don't do anything to impress, and we just want to be with people who want to be friends, let our children be friends, and enjoy life. And being the people we are with the luck that we've had, we find that desire to be epically difficult to fulfill. I'm sure it is our own fault in some way, but still...some desires are as old as time. And some of us are better at fitting in than others. And that has never been one of my talents. But I do believe in those times when the universe steps in, perhaps by the hand of God, perhaps by strange coincidence (or is there a difference?), and you can suddenly see something clearly (hence the name of my blog). During today's sermon, when we officially became members of St. John's Lutheran Church, the pastor's sermon addressed issues of fitting in and being ourselves and how that relates to being part of Christ's work in the world. He made a connection between being ourselves and being genuine, and I have thought about that a lot today. Being genuine, having no false pretenses...those phrases describe where most of the conflict in my life has come from and continues to come from. I have always majorly failed at playing the world's games. And in today's age of electronic communication, I am even worse at it. Sometimes when I would have been better off bluffing or hiding or being disingenuous, I voted instead to just lay all of my cards out on the table and quickly became burned. It rarely has happened the other way around. Being genuine means that we have to step away from what the world wants of us, which is extremely tough. It means we put everything on the line. Everything. And the pastor even pointed out that being ourselves often leads to rejection. The rejection that I fear the most is hidden rejection, the kind that, if you even ever find out about it, is embarrassing and impossible to erase or to mend. However, if we invest in being genuine, it could lead us to how God uses us to help others embrace God's love. Christ loves us in spite of ourselves. That is huge. And I believe these are also points that Lady Gaga makes quite frequently and in different ways. I find it interesting that people find her new Judas song to be offensive mostly because Judas is such a universal literary symbol. The song, to me, is all about being pulled toward that which will betray us every time, and we still do it. Such a human theme, and I think it's actually so fitting that people misinterpret it. I believe that is exactly why she created the song. Of course, that's a guess seeing as how I don't actually know her in any way. :)  But her entire new album is entitled "Born This Way." Let's stop apologizing and get on with this world.