Who Are You?

Two valuable people to me, Myrna and Sam Willard, enjoying a New Year's sparkling cider. Sam has been walking the streets of gold for a couple months.

Who are You?
We’ve been discussing intrinsic and functional value of persons. Do you see yourself as valuable? What are you worth? Who are you?
The Bible tells us: “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he,” Prov.23:7.

My friend, Fred Crowell, used to say, “now if that were completely true, when I was in high school, I would have been either a basketball or a girl. (I thought a whole lot about girls and basketball.)”
However, in general, as a man thinks, so is he.

We live out our self perception. A person with a healthy, positive self esteem is one who thinks highly of others, serves out of love and yet productively ministers to self with a well-balanced, proper priority lifestyle.

A person who thinks poorly of himself has a low self esteem. He is self-denigrating, or covers with a cocky, know it all attitude. Masks are worn. The most sociable person takes refuge in social contacts to avoid intolerable inner loneliness. Evidence of low self esteem. How do you value yourself?

Paul Tournier in his book, The Meaning of Persons, claims “I become increasingly away that the person, pure and unvarnished, will always escape us. Doubtless only God knows it. I can never grasp the true reality, of myself or of anybody else, but only an image; a fragmentary and deformed image, an appearance: the ‘personage.’” If Tournier is correct, we may be on a fruitless chase. Whether we can know ourselves completely is probably an impossibility; however, an increasing knowledge of ourselves should give us greater freedom, wisdom and strength in daily life.

David Needham in his book Birthright, challenges us with: “Am I aware of who I am? If so, am I aware of the resulting meaning in life which flows from that identity and the divine resources available to fulfill that destiny - and what am I doing about it?”

How are we supposed to think of ourselves? Some would tell us we are basically evil; others, we are basically good. Some would say we're nothing but an animal in evolution. The new age movement tells us we are God. Some say, “I am a sinner saved by grace.” Others, “I am a saint who can sin.” In addiction meetings, people introduce themselves by their first name followed by “I am an alcoholic”... or whatever their addiction is.

Some children were told that they were stupid or ugly and like threads in a spider’s web, these words became like ropes in the thinking of themselves as stupid or ugly adults.

What (who) do you say you are? How would you describe the image of yourself?
“I’m an athlete,” one would say. But what happens when your body gives out?
“I’m a mother,” a young woman says. But what happens if the child dies?
“I'm a businessman.” But what if your capacity to do business is taken away?
“I’m a husband,” I once said. Then my wife died and I was no longer a husband.
Without giving your name or what you do, who are you? How do you perceive yourself?

Self Perception material comes in the next post. "Friday is here but Sunday's coming. Happy Easter!