"Why did you tell all these lies?"

If you haven't seen this interview with CNN Correspondent, Anderson Cooper, please do so when you get a moment (or read here). I was baffled by this story. Essentially, it is of a man who 'whips up' a protracted story about being a veteran of the US Armed Forces. The FBI caught on to him, and has charged him with a 'Stolen Valor' charge. I found myself asking the same question Mr. Cooper does, namely, "What in the world is going on here?"

Now, to be fair, I need to say/own a few things. Though he admits that he is not a 'pathological liar,' he does admit that there is an 'undiagnosed mental illness' present. And while I don't think that I would ever be able to concoct such a story (I'm just not that creative), I do think that I am capable of something like this. This gentleman and I really aren't all that different, when it comes down to what is at my core.

Yesterday, I spoke about how all of us--whether we claim to follow Jesus or not--have anchored deep within us a "question that won't go away." I mentioned how this question centers on wondering about our dignity, worth, and value. Moreover, how can we actually know that we do. Now, I'm not talking about a self-help model (à la Stuart Smalley) that aims at making us feel better in the moment, such that we don't weep when somebody tells us they don't like our powder-blue cardigan. I'm talking about the 'deep motivation' that makes us do everything we do; I'm talking about the stuff that makes us get up in the morning. So, like the psuedo-Marine in this story, I've posed in sundry ways to get attention, feel accepted, and so on. Here's the short list: I started playing music to feel cool in High School; I wore Croakies in college precisely and only because I thought girls liked dudes that did (I know: stud-ly, right ladies?). My point is this, I watched this story and my gut reaction, surprisingly, was "Yeah, I get it. I know why he'd fabricate a tale like this."

I'll cut it short. I mentioned how Christianity answers this "question that won't go away" by saying that in Christianity we find a dignity, worth, and value that comes from no other place. C.S. Lewis calls this "fame with God." And when this "question" is answered by Him, the "old ache [within]" begins to fade. What do you make of this...?