“This mystery . . . is Christ in you.” St. Paul

Who are you? 

If you were to meet someone for the first time and they asked you that question, how would you answer? Most people would respond according to what they do, where they work or live, or in the context of their relationship with others.

Who are you?  It is a question which, with reflection, invites us to delve to the depth of our very being.  It is a question of identity, which most people are very confused about these days.  I see them all the time.  I meet them regularly.  Perhaps you are one of those people. I was for a very long time during my life.  I identified myself according to my professional career as a clergy man, as a son, as a husband, as someone who knew a lot of theology, as someone who had become successful and admired by others.  It was all vapor, smoke, and mirrors.

“Who Am I?” It is the most fundamental of all existential questions. The answer to this question seems so simple and obvious on the one hand, and so concealed and occluded on the other.   Somewhere very early on in life we lose the truth of the Divine Identity in which, by which, through which, and for which we were created.  We spend our lives on an endless quest to discover who we are, so that somehow, we can navigate this journey of life.

“Who Am I?” Discovering the answer to that question fills the abyss that exists in the center of our being.  It may not be acknowledged, but it is there.  To fill it, we seek fulfillment.  That desire for fulfillment may come in many forms, but there seems to be four primary categories: our relationships, our vocations, our acquisitions, our bodies. 

Relationships.  We quickly learn in life to define ourselves in relationship to other people.  I am a son, a daughter, a wife, a husband, an employee, a boss, etc.  Throughout life relationships change.  People grow up, grow old, divorce, depart, and die.  Relationships are not static.  Therefore, if we define ourselves according to relationships we will find ourselves on constantly shifting sand, having to reinvent ourselves according to who it is we happen to be in relationship with at the moment.

Vocation.  “What do you do?”  That is one of the first questions we ask upon meeting someone else for the first time.  It determines the value we place on them—or ourselves.  Our careers serve as a carrot on a stick, which we continue to chase in the hopes that one day we will find fulfillment.  Studies show what a fallacy this is, as so many people are miserable with their jobs.  Even if our career provides a measure of fulfillment, it nonetheless comes up short in defining and describing who we are outside of the role that we play in that context. 

Acquisitions.  Western culture is one of consumerism.  We are sold the lie that we have more stuff we will find happiness.  We are constantly encouraged to buy the newest gadget, the nicer car, the latest designer clothes, or something else with which to surround ourselves in the hope that somehow it will bring lasting happiness.  It doesn’t.  Acquiring things is a disease and addiction. It is severely disappointing and falls far short in defining who we really are.  If one could find fulfillment, meaning, purpose and identity in acquisitions there wouldn’t be so many miserable people who have accumulated so much.

Bodies.  Many people today tie their identities closely to how good they look, what race or culture they belong to, or what gender they are.  These, while coming a bit closer to being less transient during our life journeys, nonetheless fail to fill the litmus test of identity.  For our bodies also change.  One’s culture, gender, or sexuality, while contributing to who we are, does not ultimately define us.

All of these miss the mark and leave us lacking, unfulfilled, endlessly seeking something more satisfying. All of them pass away.  One can lose any of these in an instant.  Everyone eventually does lose them at death.  One’s true identity, I am convinced, is determined and define by what is internal and eternal.  It transcends time and space.  It is a matter of soul and spirit.  It is something we possessed before we were ever born and will still be part of us after we die.  In short, it is Divine.  In future blogs I will address what I believe to be the key components of this Divine Identity.  For now I leave you with this from Meister Eckart. “There is a spark within us that knows God—an inner light beyond every kind of knowing and feeling.  This is a spark that is one with God, and when we let ourselves be alive to this light we come into a still desert where all is one, is God, is me.”[1]

---

[1] “Meister Echart’s Book of the Heart”, Jon M Sweeney and Mark S. Burrows, editors.