Who am I? (cont'd)
When I was a little girl, I knew everything there was to know about God. I like to say that I've been steadily forgetting ever since. It's a bit of a joke, but there is a lot of truth in it.
When I was five, my mom came and picked me up from kindergarten. That was something my father normally did, so I was curious.
"Mommy, where's Daddy?"
"He's working."
This was news to me. I didn't know that my father (an Anglican priest) had a job. "What does Daddy do?"
"He teaches people about God."
"Oh, well, I already know all about God."
"You do, do you?"
"Yes." And i proceeded to give a rundown of Genesis and Exodus, and then skipped straight to the Christmas story, followed by Christ's death and ressurection, "and then Jesus went to Heaven, and now he lives inside my heart."
Yes, when I was a child, I knew it all.
Many people speak about Matthew 19.13-15 as if the point Jesus was making was that we are to have blind faith - like that of a small child. Sermons and books have been written about how we must believe in God the way a child believes in him. But I disagree with this interpretation.
Your ideas about who you are should certainly change as you begin this journey. If you were already uncertain as to your identity, congratulations - you have already entered into the Becoming!
What I hope to express in these pages is not a set formula for discovering your identity. It is not a list of "things to do" so that you can become a "good Christian" (whatever that is). It is, rather, a set of challenges. Challenges that will repeat many times throughout your own personal journey. But challenges that are necessary to your formation, to your Becoming.
It won't be easy, but if you can meet these challenges head-on, trusting in the strength of the One who created and loves you beyond all measure, then you will emerge triumphant.
We may never be able to fully answer the question of our own identity.
But it is my desire that we may together discover many other answers - and, I hope, more questions! - as we seek to become the person we were created to be.
When I was five, my mom came and picked me up from kindergarten. That was something my father normally did, so I was curious.
"Mommy, where's Daddy?"
"He's working."
This was news to me. I didn't know that my father (an Anglican priest) had a job. "What does Daddy do?"
"He teaches people about God."
"Oh, well, I already know all about God."
"You do, do you?"
"Yes." And i proceeded to give a rundown of Genesis and Exodus, and then skipped straight to the Christmas story, followed by Christ's death and ressurection, "and then Jesus went to Heaven, and now he lives inside my heart."
Yes, when I was a child, I knew it all.
Many people speak about Matthew 19.13-15 as if the point Jesus was making was that we are to have blind faith - like that of a small child. Sermons and books have been written about how we must believe in God the way a child believes in him. But I disagree with this interpretation.
but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs."If children more closely resemble their true selves than adults do, then this passage has more to do with the state of our souls than it does the state of our faith. The kingdom of heaven belongs, not to those who believe blindly, but to those who are in the midst of the Becoming, on the journey towards true self. And this journey involves reflection, critical thought, and much trust and discernment.Matthew 19.14, NRSV
Your ideas about who you are should certainly change as you begin this journey. If you were already uncertain as to your identity, congratulations - you have already entered into the Becoming!
What I hope to express in these pages is not a set formula for discovering your identity. It is not a list of "things to do" so that you can become a "good Christian" (whatever that is). It is, rather, a set of challenges. Challenges that will repeat many times throughout your own personal journey. But challenges that are necessary to your formation, to your Becoming.
It won't be easy, but if you can meet these challenges head-on, trusting in the strength of the One who created and loves you beyond all measure, then you will emerge triumphant.
We may never be able to fully answer the question of our own identity.
But it is my desire that we may together discover many other answers - and, I hope, more questions! - as we seek to become the person we were created to be.
posted by Jannalou at 10:03 PM
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