And the word for today is....

My friend Philip and I declared yesterday to be "fry-day." That means that we borrowed a fryer, bought some oil, and prepared lots of things to fry. This is unusual for both of us, because we are both fairly healthy in our eating habits. I had some catfish in the freezer (thanks Rick Harper!) and I also bought some french fries. Philip brought over mushrooms, cheese sticks, and the fixins for S'mores. Trust me--the less said about that, the better!

Anyway, I had selected some beer-battered fries because, when it comes right down to it, I really like beer-battered fries. Philip looked at that, then he looked at me and said, "You're really an enigma, do you know that?" When I asked why he said it was because even though I don't consume any alcohol I still like beer-battered fries and even though I think that homosexuality is wrong one of my best friends is a homosexual and so on and so forth. Apparently when he describes me to his friends they get confused when they find out I'm a pastor.

I thought that was a fascinating thing for him to say.

Enigma: 1. a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation: His disappearance is an enigma that has given rise to much speculation.
2. a person of puzzling or contradictory character: To me he has always been an enigma, one minute completely insensitive, the next moved to tears.
3. a saying, question, picture, etc., containing a hidden meaning; riddle.
4. (initial capital letter) a German-built enciphering machine developed for commercial use in the early 1920s and later adapted and appropriated by German and other Axis powers for military use through World War II.

I'm guessing that when Philip said that I am an enigma he had definition number 2 in mind. Apparently I act in ways that are puzzling and contradictory. Okay, so I know that's true. I really don't do it for shock value or anything like that, though. It's just the way I am. I've decided that the masks of who I am "supposed" to be are not as important as my just being authentically who I am, whoever that is.

I think that if we could all learn to be authentic, instead of trying to fit into others' expectations of us, we might all be rather enigmatic. Of course, that would throw many of our worlds into chaos as we let loose of some of the boundaries that have been imposed on us by others.

As for me, I'm just trying my best to be authentically who I was created to be which, I suppose, makes me enigmatic.

I'd like to think that Jesus was an enigma to those he lived with, too.