Blessed Are the Uncool: Living Authentically in a World of Show

Admit it: you want to be cool. Cool is a destination: everyone else has arrived, but you can't seem to catch up. Cool is a security blanket: you wear it ragged and hide beneath its tatters. Cool is a coping mechanism: you're leaning on it, and it keeps breaking down on you. Sooner or later, you'll count yourself among the uncool: in those moments when everybody gets the joke but you, when the new kid's swagger leaves you self-conscious, when your friends invite you to do what you swore you'd never do. In those moments God sees you and calls you blessed. In Blessed Are the Uncool Paul Grant deconstructs the cultural phenomenon of cool, an ever-elusive, exclusionary act of perpetual rebellion for rebellion's sake. A life spent chasing after cool is exposed for the fickle, fruitless and ultimately inauthentic life that it is. In its place God offers you community: where exclusion is replaced with love, rebellion is redeemed with hope, and your longings are answered with faith that in Christ, God is reconciling this uncool world to himself.

Paul Grant was born in Idaho, was raised in Switzerland by missionary parents, and now lives in Wisconsin. He is all about being "uncool"—living authentically in a world of show. Paul says that being uncool is a call to embrace community, family, culture and belonging, and is about living life unashamed. Being hip is no longer "all that." It's much better to be real. Read Paul's blog at uncool.us.