David Roche is the pastor of the Church of 80% Sincerity. He has a severe facial deformity that people don’t notice so much after he speaks for a while and they get over the shock of it and see his radiance. He says that people with facial deformities wear their shadow on the outside whereas the rest of us wear it on the inside.
“We in the Church of Eighty Percent Sincerity do not believe in miracles,” he said. “But we do believe that you have to stay alert, because good things happen. When God opens the door, you’ve go to put your foot in. Eighty Percent Sincerity is about as good as it’s going to get. So is Eighty Percent compassion. Eighty Percent celibacy. So twenty percent of the time, you just get to be yourself.”
I love the way Roche cuts you slack for not being perfect. We’re all on the road called “trying.” We’re “trying” to live a life of 100% sincerity and when we fall short it’s not so serious. He takes the smugness out of sincerity.
Writer Anne Lamott says, “In the Church of 80% Sincerity, you definitely don’t have to look good, but you are supposed to meditate.
According to David’s instructions, you sit quietly with your eyes closed and you follow your breath in and out of your body, gently watching your mind.
Your mantra should go like this: ‘Why am I doing this? This is such a waste! I have so much to do! My butt itches…’ And if you stick to it, he promises, from time to time calm and peace of mind will intrude. After some practice with this basic meditation, you will be able to graduate to panic meditations, and then sex fantasy meditations. And meditations on what to do when you win the lotto.
When David insists you are fine exactly the way you are, you find yourself almost believing him.”
I was reminded of the old novel The Portrait of Dorian Gray…everything was an artifice on the outside and the inside was rotten. Thanks for sharing this article…I have been working hard at meditation and this was really funny.
isn’t it? i’ve been meditating for an hour a day and this is a pretty typical meditation pattern for me. my mind isn’t just a barking dog, it’s an entire pack.