Can you have Authenticity without Substance?

Last week I had great expectations of attending the Substance Summit in Portland.  This was billed as “The first in a series of conversations with the Portland creative community to help each other understand how we can be more inclusive, collaborative and effective.”  I’m all about creative conversations, so I signed up and was looking forward to the conversation!

Sometimes, getting out of the house on time is an issue though.  I told my family that I was planning to leave at Noon, but had to leave by one PM.  I left at 4:00 o’clock and arrived at the Summit as it was disbanding.  I was able to talk with my friend @brampitoyo, who created the Link En Fuego blog.  Bram is a very bright and creative young man and our conversations always have substance.

In fact, he’s the one who got me thinking along the whole authenticity track last week.  But after talking about the blog post I wrote on authenticity, we moved to the “substance” meme.

I mentioned in my last post that I “experienced more authenticity in that two hours [of Portland Werewolf] than I have in a decade of church attendance.”  There are some who think I shouldn’t make statements like that.  However, in order for me to be authentic, I have to recognize the elephant in the middle of the room.  To ignore it, would be, to me, an unforgivable issue.

I know that people who don’t go to church already see the elephant.  I know that many who do belong to a faith community, don’t.  To admit there’s a problem, that begins to take us onto the road of healing.

Newton said, That for every “action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”  Now he was most likely talking about rotten apples falling on his head while he tried to escape the cacophony of mathematical equations in his head; or his wife.  He probably never realized that his statement, this theorem if you will, could be applied to parenting, psychology, addiction, spirituality, etc.

The opposite reaction to the the equation is this.  Though authenticity is lacking in church communities, substance is not.  Sometimes there is so much substance you can feel it.  I didn’t get a lot of substance while at the Lucky Lab last week, but I certainly will this weekend.

Yesterday I met with a 22 year old who is addicted to Dextromethorphan.  He is unemployed, uneducated, and has been arrested for a felony committed to support his “dex” addiction.  Why does one use a drug, to escape the reality of life?

Well, I can’t answer that here, but I do know, after spending some time with this young man yesterday, that he is looking for a God that is more real and relevant than what people preach at him.  He is looking for authenticity and he is looking for substance.

Where do you find authenticity?  Where do you find substance?  What is relevant in your life?  What is real?  I would love to hear your thoughts – I’m just a Dad on a Journey – and your opinion matters to me.  I’m thinking if just 10% of the 70 or so readers of this blog would respond, we would have a pretty good summary of Life101.

So, please, let us hear from you.  How do you define substance, authenticity, and relevancy?  How does this play out in your life?  What is your definition of these – either academically, or practically?

“Do not covet your ideas. Give away everything you know, and more will come back to you.”

– Paul Arden (thanks to @swestbrook for the quote)