Living Without Wax

Back in the old days, when sculptors would send their work to its home, the road could get rocky. A nick here and a chip there was bound to happen. But the messed up marble could be remedied almost seamlessly with a little wax. Some artists, supposedly, would apply the wax to their chipped work fairly often (Kind of like the modern use of duct tape, just much less obvious). Soon, the patrons of great works got wind of the practice and preferred the real deal, damaged or not, to a wax bandage. Hence the term "sincere" was born. From the Latin sine andcera - "without wax."

So what's up with us? Are we sincere? Are we ready to show ourselves just as we are in the full light of day, faults and all? Can we fess up to our shortcomings in ourmingling with others? Admit when the chip or scratch is ours? Or are we still trying in vain to patch it up, cover over the nicks and dents in our personalities that tell the world we are frail, often tempted, but trying nonetheless?

Let's prefer reality in our dealings with one another rather than a wax job. We'll soon discover that we're not alone, and then we can move forward in "sincerity and truth," letting Another Hand rework the cold marble of our pride and smooth over the rough in our relationships.

“There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will.”
- Hamlet, William Shakespeare