Authentically You, Deeply Beloved
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Stop to consider the beautiful fact that God made you, and loves you, exactly as you are.
“I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be, this is me…
…I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me.”
— “This is Me”, from The Greatest Showman
Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.
— Brené Brown
Psalm 139:14
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Food for Thought
As an actor, I have spent years riding the unpredictable waves of this industry—the auditions, the near-misses, the exhilarating “yes” that makes everything feel worth it, and the quiet stretches in between that can feel unbearably still. This past weekend, I attended an actors’ conference and sat in on a talk led by a fellow actor and a casting director. Both spoke openly from their Christian faith, and their message has stayed with me.
They addressed the immense pressure actors carry—the pressure to book, to be good enough, to fit the mold we imagine others want. The actor compared booking a job to the high of a drug. When you book, there’s an endorphin rush, a surge of validation. You feel chosen. Worthy. But when the job ends, the low inevitably follows: Now what? When is the next one coming? Will there be a next one? If our sense of worth is tied to that high, we are setting ourselves up for a cycle that can never sustain us. The feeling is fleeting. If booking becomes the ultimate goal, we will always be chasing something temporary.
Instead, they urged us to anchor ourselves in something deeper: our identity as beloved children of God. They reminded us that we are uniquely made, that no one else has been or will ever be exactly like us. No one else can offer what we can offer. That truth feels both empowering and terrifying. Empowering, because it frees us from competing to be someone else. Terrifying, because it requires us to actually be ourselves.
Authenticity is a word often used in this industry. Casting directors say they want it. Audiences crave it. But authenticity requires comfort with who we are right now—not a polished future version, but the flawed, quirky, sometimes awkward person we already are. The speakers emphasized that in order to grow into who God intends us to be, we must first accept that we are loved exactly as we are today. Not once we book the series regular. Not once we “arrive.” Now.
I realized how often I resist that love. There are parts of me I don’t find lovable—parts I try to hide. I feel an unspoken expectation to be cheerful, agreeable, easy at all times. I feel pressure to be “on,” even in my personal life—to smooth over bad days, to tuck away irritability, to conceal moments when I feel brash, boring, or simply not in the mood to perform. It’s exhausting.
There are only a few people in my life with whom I feel completely safe to be unfiltered. With them, I can be quiet, cranky, messy, joyful, ridiculous. I am deeply grateful for those relationships because they feel like glimpses of God’s unconditional love—love that does not flinch.
A quote I recently saw echoes in my mind: “Anything you lose by being real is fake.” It’s simple, but it hits hard. How much energy have I spent trying to hold onto approval or opportunity that might not even be meant for the real me? If being authentic costs me something, perhaps that thing was never aligned with my purpose.
What would it look like to wake up each morning and say, “I am deeply loved by God exactly as I am”? To believe I don’t have to be perfect or fit into someone else’s mold? Not as an excuse to be unkind, but as permission to be honest. To admit when I’ve had a bad day. To acknowledge my fears and quirks without shame.
Maybe it starts small—five minutes alone, journaling or speaking every fear and insecurity out loud, letting them exist without editing. Simply acknowledging: This is me. And I am loved.
If I can lead from that place—anchored not in the high of booking a job but in the steady truth of being God’s beloved—the pressure begins to loosen. My work becomes an offering instead of a grasping. My auditions become expressions rather than evaluations of my worth. And whether I book the job or not, I remain who I have always been: uniquely made, deeply loved, and invited to live and create from that unshakable foundation.
Take five minutes today and either journal or speak aloud the thoughts that pop into your head. Try your best not to filter or judge them. Simply allow yourself to be you!
Perhaps write on a sticky note, “I am deeply loved by God exactly as I am”, and place that reminder on a mirror or somewhere that you will see it often.
For a printable version of today's reflection Click Here!
Blessing
God of love,
Give us the grace to see ourselves through your eyes,
The compassion to love ourselves with your love,
And the courage to extend that same love to those around us –
So that we all might know that we are beloved and we are yours.
Amen.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Where in your life do you feel pressure to perform or hide parts of who you are? Where do you feel most free to be yourself?
How can you help create spaces where others feel safe to be their authentic selves?
How might the world be different if the message everyone heard was: You are beloved exactly as you are?
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Draw a picture of yourself exactly as you are! Include some of the things you love to do. At the top of your picture, write: “I Am Beloved!”
Where are places where you feel like you can be completely yourself? Who are the people that make you feel safe to be you?
How do you think the world might be different if we celebrated our differences and reminded each other that God loves us just as we are?
Meet This WEek’s Writer...
June Dare Bunce is a native North Carolinian and one of the founders of The Welcome Table. Outside of TWT, she’s been a professional actor since 2009 and has had the honor and pleasure of working as a drama instructor for organizations such as The Harlem Children’s Zone and the YMCA. When she’s not working on a script or at the office, you can either find her at the gym or on the yoga mat, walking around whatever town she’s living in at the moment, or working on the art of relaxing at home (it really is a skill).
To hear more from June throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!