Living in DC has many advantages.  Recently we spent the better part of a day at the International Spy Museum, one of the many museums and attractions in the area.  It was great fun because it took both of us back to our youth – way back to our youth – of Secret Agent Man, Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, and Mission IMPOSSIBLE nights before the television screen wondering how the hero was going to make it out of another tight spot or impossible task.  I’d given up long ago that ANY of the little gadgets they used on any of those shows actually existed.  How could they?  They used things like a tiny tape recorder that fit into a package of cigarettes when the smallest home version available at the time was not much smaller than the size of a washing machine.  But as we made our way through the Spy Museum – there it was displayed in the glass case – the tiny tape recorder fit into a package of cigarettes, circa 1960.

But what brought me to this reflection was what happened when we first entered the Spy Museum.  First, we had to stop in an ante room and find an identity.  We were to remember the name, occupation, place of birth, destination, reason for this visit and how long our identity was to stay in said destination.  If we forgot any of the alias information at any check point along the way, we would be held suspect.  Needless to say, it’s difficult to remember something that is not real.  And, I have always wondered how spies did it.  In the current shows, like MI5, the spies are given massive amounts of information in a few seconds which they must take in, remember and act out of for the duration of their mission.  It’s amazing to me that anyone could even do that, and I’ve decided I could never!

I much prefer the wisdom of Oscar Wilde who said “Be yourself.  Everyone else is already taken.”  Why even want to be somebody else?  It makes for great entertainment –  but life?  No, just be yourself.  And that is the grace.  Each one of us is unique and graced in our own individuality, every moment of every day.  “Be yourself!  Everyone else is already taken.”  Be yourself and it will be enough.  It’s a better tool for life than any little gadget in the Spy Museum, and only you can do it!  Just be yourself.  And reflect to world the wonder that is you!