Two Mirrors, Please.

I was talking with someone over the weekend about John Edwards' affair. Maybe you haven't heard the story. If you haven't, it's tragic. We use the word "affair" because it's pretty benign, pretty harmless, cute almost, but the reality is that this married man had sex with a woman who was not his wife. He committed what the Bible calls adultery, and that is devastating. But, anyway, I was telling the person how, even though I don't agree with John Edwards on most things politically, I always really admired his commitment to his wife, his family, the way he really seemed to love and value being a husband and dad. The person I was talking to replied," And now, don't you just think all that was a show." My response was, "No, because I know myself, and I know that I can say I believe one thing and then act in a way that indicates I believe quite another."

See, here's the thing, if my actions dictated my beliefs, I'd be in real trouble, because there are days when what I say and do would mean that I believe lying is okay, hatred is fine, and even some moments when there isn't a God at all. I mean, it's easy to jump on John Edwards, call him a fake, and chalk him up as just another politician who said one thing and did another, but I have a hard time doing that. Maybe because I see much of myself in John Edwards, and I hope and pray that, like me, his beliefs are steady and firm even when his actions don't quite match up.