Lessons For Graduates: Lesson #3

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Today in Lesson 3 for Graduates, I explore what it means to live an authentic life, especially when “authenticity” gets confused with simply saying everything we feel or excusing every compulsion as “just how I’m wired.” Ephesians calls us to “put off falsehood and speak truthfully,” yet real truth also asks for wisdom, discretion, and spiritual maturity. Through a simple example about peanut M&M’s, I look at the difference between a life driven by compulsion and a life guided by God-given intention. Swedenborgian theology reminds us that when compassion stirs in the heart, God is speaking directly to us. That is where our truest self begins. For graduates, and for all of us in this graduation ceremony called life, the lesson is simple and sacred: “Pay attention to the best intentions of your soul,” then act on them “as imperfectly as you can, as humbly as you can.”