Tag: Identity

Uniforms, Uniformity, and Uniqueness

This is all about you (and me, too).
   If it reminds you of something very familiar, it should. After all, we’ve always said that “clothes don’t make the man” (or woman)—although we usually never stop trying.
   Lots of people use special dress or uniforms; for instance: soldiers, sailors, kings, queens, priests, nuns, judges, doctors, nurses, etcetera.
   Just because someone looks good doesn’t mean that he or she is good. And, just because two people look the same—either because of their bodies or because of their clothing—it doesn’t mean they are the same.  Similar they may be, but exactly the same, no.
   Even “identical” twins are not 100% identical—and that applies to all living beings no matter how they’re related or dressed or talk or seem.
   If you’ve ever seen a military dress parade, you know that it’s very impressive. Everyone is dressed almost the same, everyone walks in step with everyone else—they seem to be one highly trained body—but, even so, nobody is 100% the same as anybody else.
   On the battlefield, in a crisis, we don’t want every soldier marching in tune and thinking exactly the same and following the same orders in exactly the same way. Besides obedience, we also want initiative, creativity, courage, and skill.
   Do you ever stop to think that you (and I, and each of us) are fundamentally unique? In the entire history of the human race there never has been another person exactly like you, and there never will be one.
   You may have ideas or understandings or experiences that no one else has ever had. Similar, yes, but exactly the same, no!
   It’s mind-boggling to think of it, but encouraging, too. Without you, the world would be somehow diminished!

   If I really appreciate you, I should think “Thanks be to God for you”, and if I really appreciate myself, I should also think “Thanks be to God for me”!
   That we are, what we are, why we are, how we are, all of these are reasons for gratitude, thanksgiving, gladness, and joy (when we think of our creator and creation) and, conversely, sometimes reasons for regret, sadness, and shame (when we think of ourselves and our mistakes and failings).
   But, for better or for worse, there never was another person just like you and there never will be another person just like you.
   There are things that will never be done without your doing them; there are ideas that will never be explored without your exploring them; most of all, there are people that will never be helped without your helping them.
   You, and each of us, are very important to the designs of God, to the future of the world we live in together, and to the well-being of others.
   All this is not about fame. It has nothing to do with notoriety. You may never be explicitly recognized or appreciated. But, without the contribution you make, the world will never become what it could have, for better or for worse!
   It’s okay to wear the same uniform as others—it says that you are committed to the same cause, share the same values, and strive for the same purposes.
   It’s okay to march to the same drumbeat as others—so long as you never forget that you have a unique destiny and a unique set of skills and purpose, and that if you are lacking or holding back, there is no one who can ever completely replace you!


3 April 2022

Role Models

Growing up, usually we’ve had some role models for various aspects of our lives. That is to say, we’ve tried to be like someone who, as best we understood it, was exemplary in some or many ways.
   Our role models included people distinguished by, for example, looks, strength, popularity, sex appeal, power, money, insight, academic achievement, heroism, skill, artistry, generosity, leadership, holiness, or beauty.
   We’re all somewhat familiar with Halls of Fame—that is, places that call attention to and commemorate people distinguished by a particular kind of achievement—for example, pro football or baseball.
   Although not necessarily commemorated in a Hall of Fame, many people are selected as exemplars in their chosen field.  Just think of the Academy Awards for different successes in motion pictures, or medals awarded for valor in the military.
   In Washington, DC., there are monument erected to distinguished Americans—e.g., George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King.
   All over, there are monuments, pictures, busts, and statutes of special people held up for us as models and achievers for better or for worse, from beauty contests to elections!
   Sometimes people are honored during their life, although that can become disappointing since people tend to improve or decline with the passage of time.
   That’s why so many people are not completely held up as exemplars or role models until they have died—and even so, they are not held up as models in every single aspect of their lives; except for a special dispensation of God, no human person is perfect in every way.
   Many years ago I was at the funeral for Pope John Paul II. Towards the end of the ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, many people began to cry out, “Santo subito!”

   “Saint right away!” was what they wanted, that he be honored as a saint.
   Canonization of a saint is a solemn declaration that the person was so distinguished by their quality of life that they now must be in heaven—and may be called upon as our intercessor before God.
   Of course, it doesn’t mean that the person was 100% perfect in every way, but it does hold up the person as a model to be imitated, as an example of faith and goodness for each of us.
   We’re all called upon and challenged to live lives as nearly perfect and as exemplary we can—but it doesn’t necessarily mean that we will be singled out for any award or Hall of Fame.
   Life is filled with unsung heroes/heroines known only to a few people or maybe only to God. Very few are publicly recognized, acclaimed, remembered, and held up as role models.
   Those held up as exemplars in one time and place may not be esteemed the same way in another; values change, and few people stand the test of time and continue to stand as role models through the ages.
   Each of us may have had role models known only to ourselves—and, conversely, we may have become a role model for another in some ways without realizing it.
   As children we learned by imitating and taking after others. Sometimes we realized that our choice of role models was a mistake—and sometime it was a mistake and we never realized it.
   You’re a role model, each of us is a role model, whether we know it or not. Of course, we’re not and never will be perfect models. But, we try to do the best we can!


23 January 2022

God and Me? Me and God?

   O God, you are my God—
       it is you I seek!
   For you my body yearns;
      for you my soul thirsts.

   This verse (Psalm 63:2) is an evocative description of the human condition—a restless thirsting, hungering, searching for meaning, purpose, and fulfillment.
   Please notice, though, that the starting point is God. We’re not journeying through life like an explorer in a wilderness. Life is not a long-term, trying expedition to satisfy our wander/wonder lust. We’re not discoverers stumbling upon, unearthing a great trove of beautiful ideas or artifacts, evidence of some past glory.
   Remember the Baltimore Catechism question, “Why Did God Make You? The answer was, “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven.”
   There, also, the starting point is God, but the focus seems to be more on us than on God—at least in the sense that it gives a short list of our obligations to God, the things that we have to do to achieve being “happy with him for ever in heaven.”
   What do we do when we go to confession? We don’t “confess” (in the sense of proclaim) the mercy and wonder of God’s love and providence, We “confess” in some detail our failings, inadequacies, misdeeds, and sins. Sure, it’s primarily about offending God, but the focus is still mostly on ourselves!
   Is our story more about God and Me or about Me and God? It seems like the main focus is Me.
   To quote again (Psalm 63:9):

   My soul clings fast to you;
       your right hand upholds me.

   My clinging is feeble. God holds me fast.

   St. Therese of the Child Jesus recalled that once a priest told her that her falling asleep during prayer was due to a want of fervor and fidelity and that she should be desolate over it. She had replied, “I am not desolate. I remember that little children are just as pleasing to their parents when they are asleep as when they are awake.”
   Often children think that they somehow earn their parents love and care by their good behavior, although they are loved and cared for long before they’ve matured enough to wrestle with disobedience.
   For St. Therese, clearly the starting point in her life story was God. It was about God and Me, not Me and God! It’s about the wonder of his making of each of us, of the many gifts he has given each of us, about his guiding of each of our lives, about the beauty and marvel of the world in which God has placed each of us to live.
   Okay, we can’t overlook all our blindness, indifference, selfishness, and stupidity over the years. We can’t pretend that all our inappropriate acts never happened, that all our offenses did no harm.
   But, we can’t wallow in their remembrance forever. For God’s sake, why should we be more fascinated with our failings then with God’s continuing mercy, love, forgiveness, and new empowerments. Our life story is not about Me and God, but God and Me.

For your love is better than life;
   my lips shall ever praise you!
I will bless you as long as I live;
   I will lift up my hands, calling on your name.
You indeed are my savior,
   and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy. (Psalm 63:4-5,8)

  

21 November 2021

Master Class

None of us lives as his own master and none of us dies as his own master. While we live we are responsible to the Lord, and when we die we die as his servants. Both in life and death we are the Lord’s. (Romans 14:7-8)

   A short reading for Morning Prayer began with these few words. They always stir my heart and provoke my thinking no matter how many times I see or hear them.
   Whether we agree with them or not is radically decisive about the course of our lives, the structure of our values, and all our expectations for the future.
   They are a brief statement of our essential identity. We’re not self-made, we’re not a mere byproduct of an act of love or passion, we’re not anything we may wish to be
   We are created—and even though we may yearn or feel free to be and do whatever we wish, this contradicts our essential structure and design. If that is how we try to live our lives, we don’t know who and what we are, and we are not realizing the fulness of our true potential.
   One way or another, we all, at least from time to time, are engaged in the search for meaning. for the purpose, direction, and destiny of our lives.
   The quest can be uncomfortable, frightening, or dismaying as we try to look ahead, depending on what we see or don’t see. But, we must be who and what we are, and we are limited in what we can do or achieve.
   It’s not necessarily a grim or sad story. The quest for meaning can lead us to begin to perceive our limitations not so much as personal failures or lack of success as part of our essence and design.
   It seems illogical that the complex reality of a living human person could be merely a result of a long-term process of gradual or abrupt random changes and mutations.

   Also, it seems logical that the effect must somehow have a cause that is at least equal to or greater than the effect itself.
   In other words, the quest for meaning can lead to something greater than ourselves and beyond our full understanding—as is the very universe itself.
   In our less religious age we recourse to sometimes trendy, but ultimately almost unintelligible words and concepts like, e.g., the Big Bang theory. In earlier ages unknown forces and powers were conceived of as the work of superior beings, divinities.
   In the Jewish-Christian-Muslim traditions, this gradually led to the realization and belief that this inevitably demanded an ultimate power, a supreme divinity.
   That’s what we have come to mean by God. Greater than anything or anyone other, more powerful than any other power, more understanding, compassionate, generous, merciful, and loving.
   And this is not merely a kind of philosophical theory or theological speculation. It has gradually emerged in the traditions and development of the world’s great religions. It’s shared human patrimony is not to be underestimated.
   When Paul wrote his letter to the Judeo-Christian community of imperial Rome, he used a good word to summarize all this quest for meaning and purpose, “Master”.
   Notice he didn’t say God is the Master of everyone, starting with the most difficult and demanding concept of all, “God”. He simply stated the obvious and logical to him, the common human experience: None of us lives as his own master and none of us dies as his own master.
   And, this great truth has consequences!


9 May 2021

Changing the Name or Renaming the Change?

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
In Shakespeare’s play, these words of Juliet referred to the challenge of her love for Romeo even though he bore the name and was a member of an enemy family.
In many countries, the practice has been that upon her wedding the wife changes her family name to that of her husband—and in some places even moves into the dwelling place of her husband’s family. But, name notwithstanding, she’s still the same person.
When it comes to politics, there’s a lot of changing names for the same old same old, although once in a while there really is a real change—whether it gets a new name or not!
And, what do names in politics mean, after all? Does Republican mean a believer in a republic or just a partisan supporter of a particular group? Does Democrat mean a believer in a democracy or just a partisan supporter of a particular group?
Are Liberals advocates of freedom? Are Communists crusaders for the community? Are Radicals trying to get back to the root of things? Are Reactionaries fond of redoing some of the things that worked before? Are Conservatives trying to conserve the best of the past?
In education, when someone has completed a certain amount of studies, he or she gets a new title—which isn’t always used. We don’t call a college graduate “Bachelor” nor someone with a few more post-graduate years of schooling “Master”, but frequently we do refer to someone with even more studies and skills as “Doctor”.
In religion, we call some celibates “Father” even though they’re not one; we call others “Pastor” even without a flock of sheep; and “Bishops” aren’t always good overseers (that’s what the title means). And, why do Catholics call some of them “Monsignor” (meaning “My Lord”)? Good Lord, none of them are Lords, even if some act like they are!

“Clothes make the man.” We often confuse being well-dressed with being successful or wealthy or important—but there’s no necessary connection with any of them
The reverse is true, too. The Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military is the president, but he has no impressive uniform at all. Modern royalty only uses distinctive clothing for special and ceremonial occasions. Most people with academic degrees rarely wear the robes after receiving the degree.
The point is that changing a name, title, form of address, or dress doesn’t necessarily mean a changed person or position or place—although sometimes it really does!
You can’t judge a book by its cover. A new job title doesn’t necessarily mean a raise in salary. Consultation is not the same as agreement. Being legally married doesn’t guarantee love—and vice-versa! “I see” doesn’t necessarily mean I really do.
A song from My Fair Lady is apropos:

Words. Words. Words.
   I’m so sick of words.
   I get words all day through,
   First from him, now from you.
   Is that all you blighters can do?
Don’t talk of stars,
   Burning above!
   If you’re in love;
   Show me!
Tell me no dreams
   Filled with desire!
   If you’re on fire,
   Show me! . . .

People change, for better or worse. Beware of not recognizing the change because the name’s the same!


14 February 2021

The Whale Tale

It’s often included among the “prophetic books” of the Bible, even though it has little to do with prophecy: the book of Jonah.
It’s not much of a book, only a few pages long; it’s a very short story, but one with lessons.
One of the latest of the Old Testament writings, probably a few centuries before the birth of Jesus, it was a well-known story in Jesus’ day—in fact, he quoted it in his preaching:

An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. At the judgment, the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and there is something greater than Jonah here. (Mt 12: 39b-41; also Lk 11:30-32)

What were the lessons that the book of Jonah was meant to teach?
Well, first of all, how astounding is the mercy of God! No matter how much anyone may ignore God’s will or go against it—no matter what—if they repent, they can be forgiven.
Even more important, God plays no favorites: God’s mercy is for all, without discrimination—as much for the repentant “unbelievers” as for the rebellious prophet!
God isn’t just the God of the Jews—or of the Christians, or of the Muslims. God is the god of every one of his creatures—e.g., everybody, no matter who!
A great lesson for today, when “we” (the right people) are so discriminating about “them” (the wrong people) —no matter who the “we” and the “them” may be!

When I was a child, I learned about people in terms of colors: Black meant of African descent (but south of the Sahara); Red, Indians (Native Americans); White, of European (or Mediterranean) descent; and Yellow, of Asian descent (usually Chinese).
We still haven’t let go of this odd—and inappropriate—way of typing people. Once upon a time, “Colored people” was rejected as “racist” terminology; now it’s “politically correct” for “White” people to refer to most others as “people of color”!
We’re all “people of color”. Everybody has melanin, the pigment in their skin that protects against too much sun, ranging from very little to a lot. (Historically, peoples living closer to the poles were paler and closer to the equator were darker.)
We misuse the word “races” to classify people, since there is only one human race.
Many other of our “classification” words also can be misused or are inappropriate: caste, class, status, education, maturity—also upper, lower, rich. poor, smart, dumb, lazy, and hard-working. They may be useful for comparisons but not for categories—e.g., because I’m fatter than you, that doesn’t necessarily make me a “fat person”.
Most people use these words carelessly with no intention to depreciate or to do harm; some use them carefully and deliberately, knowing what they are doing.
“. . . the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah”. We have something greater—the teaching of Jesus and the best of our religious traditions.
If we really believe, then our actions should speak even louder than our words!


   23 August 2020

If Foundations Are Destroyed . . .

We’re inundated by the huge variety of points of view, opinions, practices, teachings, values, principles, and life-styles of our day.
Almost overwhelmed by them, we are tempted to question the who, what, where, and why of our lives—and what’s right and what’s wrong.
It’s important not to forget the grounds on which our lives have been founded, the solid bases for our judgements and actions. Once we start to drift away from them, we’re confused, at sea, and miserable.
Here are some of those grounds that probably are a part of your foundation—and, if not, that could be integrated into it:

• Matthew 22:36-40:  “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

• John 13:34:  “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”

• Matthew 25:40:  . . . “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”

• Acts 17:28a:  For “In him we live and move and have our being,” . . . [St. Paul quoting the poet Epimenides of Cnossos]

• Romans 14:7-8: For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

• Lucius Annaeus Seneca:  “You must live for another if you wish to live for yourself.” (Roman stateman, first century, AD)

• Declaration of Independence:  We hold these Truths to be self-evident: that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness . . .” (Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776)

• Abraham Lincoln:  “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us . . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. (Gettysburg, November 19, 1863)

• Baltimore Catechism:  Why did God make you? God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven. (Question 6 of Lesson I, April 6, 1885)

• Pledge of Allegiance:  I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. (August 1892 and later modified)

Beware of becoming unfounded, drifting away from the values that formed you! Sort the wheat from the chaff! Stick to your guns! Have courage! You have the guiding Spirit and power of God within you!


21 June 2020

In Him We Live . . .

In St. Paul’s speech at the Aeropagus, he spoke of “The God who made the world and all that is in it . . . he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything . . . he is not far from any one of us . . .” And he added, quoting, probably, Epimenides of Kenossos, “For In him we live and move and have our being . . .” (Acts 17: 24-28)
These ten words express very simply what philosophers over the centuries have been wrestling with and trying to understand, the marvel and the mystery of existence, of everything and everyone.
Existence is not a kind of historical event but an on-going, dynamic reality. We exist, not because God at one point in time did create us, but because our very continuing to exist is due to the continuing creating, sustaining power and action of God—what can be described as his love
Although some would dispute it, this is actually not a personal belief or an act of faith, the trusting acceptance of someone else’s testimony, witness, or teaching—it is a fact, a fundamental reality.
Whether we say “God” or “Higher Power” or use any other word or concept to explain it, the fact that everything and everyone are existing requires a currently operative cause greater than any and all of its effects.
As Mr. Spock of Star Trek might say, this is logical. It’s not a matter of opinion but of knowledge. Just because I cannot see ultraviolet or infrared radiation does not mean they don’t exist—but it does mean my vision has limitations.
The knowledge and awareness of the dynamic reality of existence has some equally logical implications:
To want or try to terminate our own existence or that of any other is, in effect, to want or try to thwart the action and will of God—alas, Hamlet, but “To be or not to be” is not our question to decide.

– Whether we know or are aware of it or not, we are inseparable from God; we remain connected no matter what we may think, desire, say, or do—“sin” and “evil” are not quite so powerful as we may think.
– Human growth, maturation, and development necessarily involve our discernment of the ongoing designs of our creator and our fidelity to and harmony with them —I can’t “gotta be me” all by myself.
– Since we are of God and in God, everything about our existence is essentially good and is only made less so because of our own choices and decisions—it’s a cop-out to claim, “The devil made me do it.”
– Deviations from the divine plan because of our ignorance are understandable—only God is perfect—but deviations because of our willfulness are short-sighted, stupid, and self-destructive—they’re “My bad.”
– Joy, gladness, celebration, and thanksgiving are the most appropriate reactions to our awareness that “In him we live and move and have our being.”
In 1974, an interesting science-fiction teleplay was shown on TV, “The Questor Tapes.” It was about a scientist who was planning to create an android called Questor but never completed his work. His interns, following his written instructions, assembled the android and activated it with memory tapes that he had left them, but some were damaged. Questor realized that he lacked some essential knowledge, the purpose of his existence, and had to seek it.
The story is a provocative, moving parable about everyone’s quest for this same essential knowledge, the meaning and purpose of his or her own existence.


21 July 2019

Torments of Abstraction

Abstract (as adjective):
1. thought of apart from concrete realities, specific objects, or actual instances;
2. expressing a quality or characteristic apart from any specific object or instance;
3. theoretical; not applied or practical;
4. difficult to understand; abstruse.

The traditional proverb, “The perfect is the enemy of the good,”—although it uses three abstractions (perfect, enemy, good)—is a warning about the danger, the possible tyranny, and the “unreality” of abstractions.
With due respect to Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and other great philosophers, theologians, and scientists, sometimes they build elaborate abstract constructs that challenge our thinking about reality but which by themselves aren’t precisely real.
For instance, we used to describe the life of male and female religious as a “state of perfection”. Now we say a “state of seeking perfection”. But no matter how it’s called, there’s no such thing as perfect people.
Perfection, the carrot on the stick dangling before us, may lure us to strive to become ever better—but perfection is unattainable.
Looking forward is a continual frustration, since we are always measuring how much we fall short of the mark. Only looking backward can we find satisfaction in seeing our progress and attainments.
There are many other scales or ranges we use to measure our and other’s lives besides Imperfection/Perfection. For example:
Good/Bad, Right/Wrong, Dumb/Smart, Weak/Strong, Ugly/Beautiful, Rich/Poor, True/False, Heresy/Orthodoxy, Light/Dark, Liberal/Conservative, Success/Failure, Black/White—and even some contemporary categories like Male/Female, Gay/Straight, and Republican/Democrat.

Common to all these scales or ranges is that their two extremes are abstract categories.
No one is or can be 100% one or the other of them; such “purity” doesn’t exist in the real world. Everyone falls somewhere between the two extremes, a blend of both, ranging from 99-1% to 1-99%.
Sometimes these categories are a torment, for we are disappointed by what or where we are or by how little progress we have made in moving towards one or avoiding the other of the two extremes.
Some of us are at peace with what and where we are. Others strive, sometimes relentlessly, to come closer to one extreme than to the other. Some are outstanding, even record-breakers—at least for a while, until someone breaks their record, too.
A consoling thought is to remember that each of us is a unique creation of God, and so, for better or worse, “I gotta be me.”
It’s encouraging to remember that there never has been, is, or will be a person exactly, completely, and 100% like you.
It’s encouraging to remember that there never was, is, or will be a person who has to face a situation that is exactly, completely, and in every way like the situations you may have, are, or will be facing.
It’s encouraging to remember that there are things to be achieved and lives to be touched that never will be achieved and touched unless you achieve and touch them
This oft-quoted prayer may help us keep a balanced perspective: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”


30 June 2019

Suggestions concerning Goals

  • Is the special assembly of synod “pro Medio Oriente” focused exclusively on the geographical area or more broadly on the persons everywhere?  Is it only about Christians in the Middle East or is it about Christians of the Middle East. Perhaps the first stated goal of the synod could be amended to read as follows:

1) to confirm and strengthen Middle East Christians in their Christian identity, through the Word of God and the sacraments;

  • The second stated goal is complex; perhaps it could be divided into two. Regarding  “communion,” it has many degrees: first, communion among Catholics, then communion among Christians, then communion among believers in the one God, then communion among all members of the human family. Perhaps the second stated goal of the synod could be amended to read as follows:

2) to foster communion primarily among the Middle East Catholic churches and in turn among all Middle East Christians, all believers in the one God, and all peoples; and

  • The other part of the second stated goal concerns witness; perhaps it could be considered a third goal. The core of Christian witness is love, and authentic and effective witness is manifest in self-giving or service.  Perhaps a third stated goal of the synod could be as follows;

3) to offer an authentic and effective witness in our lives by generous and loving service to others, both to fellow disciples of Christ Jesus and to all regardless of creed.