In the classroom setting of one Peanuts comic strip, on the first day of the new school year, the students were told to write an essay about returning to class. In her essay Lucy wrote, “Vacations are nice, but it’s good to get back to school. There is nothing more satisfying or challenging than education, and I look forward to a year of expanding knowledge.”
Needless to say, the teacher was pleased with Lucy and complimented her fine essay. In the final frame, Lucy leans over and whispers to Charlie Brown, “After a while, you learn what sells.”
The temptation to say “what sells,” that is, what others want to hear whether it is true or not, is always with us. When we give in to that temptation, what we really sell is the integrity of our soul. When we resist, Christ can say of us as he did of Nathaniel, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” (John 1:47)