To Be
Who am I, asks the prophet.
Who am I, asks the priest,
Who am I, asks the poor bum on the street.
Who am I.
My name is who I need to be,
I call myself differently,
Depending on necessity,
I could be like anybody.
I change to the color I see,
Each hue a possibility,
The same is me differently,
My name is who I need to be...
Who are you? What things do you do and what thoughts to you think that would write the Webster's definition of You? How do you face the tests of the short term? The trials of the long term? What gives you hope?
Identity: Conscious and intentional personal character.
I've often reflected on the question of personal identity instigated by the outcomes of various events in my life. It's natural and even expected, I think, that many thinkers in my peer group are asking themselves the same questions. A fact that may be even more startling is that the question of identity is being asked with all due respect to the power of the potential answers. The question of identity has once again gained enough clout and report to be considered both a legitimate and a healthy pursuit for each individual. It is thus crucial that the answer each one of us gives to the questions that challenge the presuppositions about our very existence and purpose must be thoughtful, careful, and weighty.
The fact is that so many in my generation have both seen the scars and been scarred themselves by the answers to the question of identity that remained satisfied with the superficial. It was right for previous generations to pick up the shovel to dig deeper, but instead of searching for buried treasure, they dug themselves a shallow grave; empty of meaning, with only enough room for themselves. In search of meaning, those who walked before us were turned too easily aside by the bright lights of broadway, and the shiny currency of materialism. Sadly, the realities of their journeys set over them a mortal pale that stole their imagination and erased their memory of the beginning of their journey. It was thus, unprofitable to cast aside the whits of their minds – it did not lighten the load, and it did not bring new insight. Instead, innovation, and progress became mired in the muck of the roadside on their way to the banquet of shining precedent.
Do not do likewise, dear ones.
Rather, search and do not be finished until you find. Seek, and do not become satisfied with a comfortable substitute. The question of identity cannot be answered with mediocrity. Identity is not and cannot be a formula, just as the painter's single brushstroke cannot be a painting. Rather, let the application of effort, and the repetition of those things that we know to be virtuous, of merit, and charitable, bring to you the apprehension of the picture of identity. Personal identity, the question of ones intentional character, is not merely an event, but a collection of inspired and thoughtful instances of fusing that which good for you and good for others, of melding that which is true and that which is beautiful, and of learning the discipline of choosing what is hard because it is more beneficial than what is easy.
Identity is thus not the desire to start running, but the crafted form assumed by the runner as he competes; he has taken action, and runs with intentional determination knowing that identity is not found by at the very beginning but is realized and refined as the practice of running unfolds.
So to you, thoughtful reader: are you willing to be uncomfortable and dig deep? Or are you content to lie in a shallow grave?
