REFLECTIONS

I Am Me Revisited

“To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” This familiar Shakespeare quote from “Hamlet” expresses a truth as powerful for me as any of Solomon’s proverbs. While it expresses simple logic, further reflection uncovers the difficult challenge to first understand the truth about the self God made me to be. The thought drew me back to my first step toward gaining that understanding. It’s described in a Reflections titled “I Am Me,” first published August 7, 2005 and revisited here:

Fear shivered through me. Blood rushed from my head and my face fell flush. I was maybe five years-old then, but I remember how a shocking awareness electrified my being. Whatever prompted the moment, it struck reality—”I am me! no one else, and no one else is me.” Then a second jolt, “when I am gone, I am gone!”

I tried to shove the whole idea into the darkest cellar of my mind, lock it up and not ever let it out again. But the thought often returned. I could never find a lock secure enough to keep that realization from haunting me now and then.

Peace finally came one day—when I am gone, I am not gone. It took years to discover that there is a difference between I am me and I am the body I live in. It took years for me to understand my body is nothing more than the housing that encases who I really am. It serves me during my time in this world much like a space shuttle serves astronauts. It is a vessel that moves me about, provides the tools that God granted me during my time in this place, and it makes me visible to others. But my body does not define who I am.

God made me before the world began. When my ride is over in this life, I will be born into a new a new world just as God planned. In that new world I will have a new home, more secure, total peace, and life for eternity. It is God’s home and He prepared a room for me there.

I am not gifted enough to imagine much beyond life on this earth, but God’s home will exceed everything experienced in this world. It will be in an incomprehensible form. Joy will be complete. There will be no hurt nor pain, nor hunger nor thirst. There will be no war, no terror, no evil—only peace and love.

And I will still be me.

There’s still more to learn since that first step led me to grasp the truth that I am me. I’m still on a journey to understand the truth about the self God made me to be. The story, though, is not about what I’m learning about me. The story is to encourage the journey.

You are the light of the world,

Richard +

www.reflectingthesavior.org

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