Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Brutal Honesty



I just read a book by Kristen Johnston, called “Guts”. Johnston is an actress (3rd Rock from the Sun) who is also a recovering alcoholic/drug addict. She swears like a sailor, and she and I would not see eye to eye on much of anything relating to religion or politics. One thing we do see eye to eye on is the need for honesty… the brutal, gut-level kind. And that is what I found refreshing about her book.

I really didn’t even mind her swearing and I eventually got past the religious and political gap--first, because she doesn’t spend a large amount of time talking about those things; and second, because I was so drawn in by the way she admitted that she used to lie… all the time… about everything. A huge part of her recovery, and probably the biggest hurdle she had to cross was telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. She had never done that before, and she didn’t think anyone else did either.

Being a recovering Polly Anna (and liar… the denial kind), I value brutal honesty more than I ever knew possible. Telling the truth is also a large part of my recovery and I cannot stand Christian literature that glosses over the ugly truths about what goes on in the human mind. Frankly, I don’t think Jesus can stand it either. In the world today there is real suffering, real pain and real sin. If the truth about those things cannot be told, how can we ever be healed from our grief, our sin, and yes, our addictions—and we all have them—IF we are brutally honest enough to admit it!

3 comments:

  1. Just happened upon your blog and am enjoying reading your posts and sharing in your journey. When I came to this post, I recalled recently watching Paul Washer's testimony on YouTube and the subject of lying had come up there. It was very inspirational. You may enjoy it as well.
    Blessings,
    Terri

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    1. Thanks for sharing in my journey, Terri. And thanks for your encouragement! I'll check out Paul Washer's testimony.
      Blessings to you as well,
      Cindy

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  2. Thank you Cindy for being my first blogging friend on my new blog. When I went back to double check the YouTube testimony reference I mentioned, I realized I'd made a mistake. It's actually titled Paul Washer's Story and it's 15minutes and 44 seconds long. Sorry about that!

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I would love to hear from you! Let me know what you think and how I can pray for you. Most of us are carrying some pretty heavy baggage and the good news is, you don't have to carry it alone! You can lay it at the feet of Jesus, and sometimes we need help just letting go of our baggage and not picking it up again. We're in this together!