“Who Are You?”
“Who do you say that I AM?” Jesus of Nazareth
“I know there’s a place where you walked where love falls from the trees, my heart is like a broken cup, I only feel right on my knees.”[1]
“There is only one problem on which all my existence, my peace, and my happiness depend: to discover myself in discovering God. If I find Him, I will find myself, and if I find my true self, I will find Him.”[2]
We are facing a crisis.
Not the crisis of high inflation and a tanking economy.
Not the crisis of global poverty, immigration, or sex trafficking.
Not the crisis of global warming.
Not the crisis of the war in Ukraine or the threat of Russia or North Korea using nuclear weapons.
We are facing a different type of crisis. One which, if recognized and rectified, would quite possibly address and correct all these other crises. I am referring to a crisis of identity.
It is a crisis that is consists of not knowing who we are as human beings, and as a result, live in a small, selfish, individualistic, way that has very harmful consequences. I am convinced that the only way that many of the crises that grab our attention can be solved is by resolving the crisis that exists within most people; namely not knowing who we are, why we are here, or what in the world we are doing here.
To illustrate this point, I would ask a simple yet profound question, “Who are you?” It’s not a very common question, at least not for those who live in The West. Usually we ask others “What do you do?”, or “Where do you live?” Those questions are surface questions that address the small, superficial self. They attempt to get answers that have no lasting significance. Those questions allow us to make a value judgment on the other person and place them in a category, a handy container, which shapes our opinion of them. Seldom, if ever, do we ask others “Who are you?” Though we live in a day and age where we are encouraged to not only ask that question of ourselves, “Who am I?”, but unfortunately to seek the answers in inadequate and unsatisfying places. It’s an ultimate identity question that has eternal implications. I’m curious, how would you answer that question?
Many of us would do so in reference to our body, our gender, our job, our possessions, our political party, our role as child, spouse, or parent, our beliefs, our brokenness, our accomplishments, our accolades, our country, our community, our culture, our race, and so on. But this ALL misses the point. None of this is who we truly are. For these are externals, temporary, transitory. They are mere ornaments, decorations, even delusions that lead us to believe that we are someone other than who we really are in our core and essence. Our identity goes much deeper than that to reach down into the very depths of our being.
Take a look at the quotes with which I began. Each of them is, in differing ways, taking a deeper dive into addressing that which is transcendent, not transitory. The question asked by Jesus is one that refers to Him but reflects back and applies to each of us. The song by The Who (I would invite you to listen carefully to all the lyrics) captures the confusion with identity, but also gives a hint to where or how to answer that question. And Merton provides the answer. It is only by discovering God that we find our true selves. And until we do, we will continue to not only face, but live in the fundamental crisis that causes every other one creates such great consternation.
In the weeks to come I will first be addressing the cases of “mistaken identity” that are traps that we fall into. And then will lead us on the path, often-times a downward one, that will lead us into a more whole, and dare I say “holy”, identification with who we are at the center of our being—whether we recognize it or not.
This topic and these thoughts are not original to me. They have been gradually formed over years by means of the journey that I have been on to escape my false self and primary (and often-times unhealthy) association with defining myself by what I did (pastor, missionary, regional director), what role I played (son, husband, father), what successes I could claim (two Master’s degrees, “expert” on Alzheimer’s), or what possessions I had accumulated (house, car, clothes). I have come to realize that NONE of that ultimately matters. It is all temporary and based on the “doings” in life. There is, as Jesus said to Mary as she sat at his feet, only one thing needful, and that is the “Being.” Most recently this journey and awareness has been synthesized by the book “Spirituality and the Awakening Self” by David Benner. It is a book about life-changing transformation! It this book that will provide the outline for what I write in the weeks to come. I invite you, if you so desire, to obtain it and read along.
In the meantime, I leave you to ponder this question: “Who are you?”
[1] From the song, “Who are You?”, by The Who.
[2] Thomas Merton, “New Seeds of Contemplation.”