Latter Day Sinner

There is a horrible lie in our culture that all we need to do is be ourselves. Bill Cosby joked that cocaine made the real person come out. He asked: But what if I am an asshole? We all know how that turned out. People should generally not be content with themselves. We are a nasty bunch for the most part. Only through great effort do we become any less nasty.

So who am I to tell you this? I’m just another judgmental jerk. But I can see you for who you are. I can tell if you are a whiner. I can tell if you are lazy. I can if you are willfully ignorant.

The real me wants extravagant wealth and all the wives and children I can afford with it. The real me wants you to pay me to listen to your sob story. The real me wants you to entertain me or leave me alone. My therapist calls it delusions of grandeur. You don’t want my authentic self. You want me to pretend I like you and give you money.

The person I am is problematic. The person you are probably is too. You might be kidding yourself that you don’t hurt anyone. But if you are not helping anyone either then you really aren’t all that good a person. We live in a fallen world. We are sinners. If you think there’s nothing wrong with you then you are lying to yourself. My authentic self needs to give way to a better self. So does yours.