Deep Identity

At Bible study this morning, we looked at Psalm 21. It is one of those difficult, enemy-formation Psalms in which the writer cheers God on in the hopes that God will wipe out all his enemies.

Why is enemy formation so attractive? What is it in us that compels us to form enemies?

In the middle of Psalm 21 we found verse 6. The Psalmist, speaking of the king says to God, “you make him glad with the joy of your presence.”

We make enemies because we lack an awareness of God’s presence. We forget that God is at the centre of our lives. We experience a lack and so we try to shore up our faltering sense of identity by proving others wrong and winning adherents to our side.

Later in the day my daughter sent me Richard Rohr’s thought for the day. Rohr says, “We need to know, experientially, that ‘I am who I am who I am”, and THAT naked, undecorated self is already and forever the beloved child of God.” That is the whole thing!

When I rest secure in my deep identity as “the beloved child of God,” I no longer need to make enemies. I discover that my “enemy” is equally a “beloved child of God,” not different from me, not worse, not better. We are all connected. The differences that appear to separate us exist only on the surface.

In the depths of our true identity as children created in the image of God, we are one. This realization sets me free to truly love. I do not need to have all the right answers and to prove you wrong. I do not need to be seen to be successful, or even to be successful. Life ceases to be a threat. I no longer need to build up my fragile sense of identity by rallying the troops against some perceived danger. I no longer need to defend myself. I am not fragile.

In this deep identity I discover the only real freedom possible for any human being.
Read more...