Matthew McConaughey is one of Hollywood’s most unique actors — known not only for his acclaimed career but also his bro-y, good-natured philosophical persona.
Talking to McConaughey is exactly what you think it’s like. The public feels like they know what Matthew McConaughey is like because he’s never tried to hide it. Whether he’s talking about life, acting, travelling or his faith in God, McConaughey isn’t one to shy away from speaking his truth.
In an interview with RELEVANT, McConaughey opened up about how his faith has grown over the years and breaks down the structure of his prayer life.
How has your faith changed over the years?
I’m a believer. I believe in God.
I also, at times in my life, took advantage of the idea of, “Well, it’s all fate. What’s going to happen is going to happen. It’s all been written.” I had a time where I had a couple of very agnostic years. It wasn’t as much about disbelieving as it was more about telling myself, “Hey, quit chalking things up to fate. You have your hands on the wheel, you’re responsible for your decisions.” That’s why you’ve got free will — you make the choice for yourself. Your hands are on the wheel.
When I’ve been in the places where — you know, I look at Google, and I call it God’s eye in the sky. I look at Earth, and I look at our little dot we are on the planet and the world’s turning and we’re that little individual on the planet. And I say, “Oh my gosh. I’m like nothing. None of what I do matters.”
That place of humility is actually where I realized — oh it all matters.
How does prayer keep you connected to God?
Prayer is inventory for me. It’s why I love the schedule of church. I mean, you know, it’s time to go. It’s been seven days — I go to church once a week, so Sunday, I go and I pray and I do inventory. I try to let memory catch up. I take a deep breath, understand myself as being number two in God’s house and go back to my week remembering what I can.
I’m usually coming off a very busy week, so it’s sometimes hard to see the lineage of the week that we led to being at that point. Things overlap. You forget certain things, and then I try to picture everyone in my life until I can catch them in a snapshot in my mind when they are their most true selves. Not everyone is going to be happy. Some are very solemn faces, but that’s a friend of mine or a loved one or a family member that they are really being them their true selves at that moment. And sometimes it’s a picture of them 20 years ago, sometimes it’s a picture of them this morning.
I’ll try to go through my Rolodex mind and see everyone as their most true self. Then I end up trying to see myself as my mom’s true self. And each one of those pictures, when I see them, I just pray or hope that that image of who that person was and how they felt inside in their mind and in their heart and their spirit at that time, that that that can flourish with them. I hope that they can carry that into the masses of the world and into the future. I pray that that part of them can grow.
Read more of our cover story with McConaughey here.
