[First posted in 2013; updated 2017; time for a repost.—Admin1]
Image from LINKED IN
In Les Miserables, a film based on a two-decade old broadway musical, which in turn was based on a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1862—there is a song titled “Who am I?”
Significantly, it is sung by the main protagonist Jean Valjean at the closing of Part I when he experiences an epiphany of sorts that would change his life direction. He had been a convict identified only by the number “24601”, unjustly sentenced to two decades in prison for having stolen a loaf of bread for his starving sister, then released. Outside of prison, he experiences hospitality from a priest who feeds him and gives him temporary shelter, but he responds by stealing valuables, gets caught and taken back to the priest who, unexpectedly tells a ‘white lie’ that the items were given and not stolen. The puzzled thief who had known nothing more than cruelty from his jailers is taken aback; the priest then explains to him in private that by giving him yet another chance to redeem himself, “I have bought your soul for God.” And in a way, he had.
This totally unexpected act of forgiveness, grace and mercy on top of earlier kindness and hospitality stuns Prisoner #24601 who, up to this point, has been living outside of prison without having shed his ‘convict’ mentality and criminal inclination. This leads him to introspection (in song of course), a review of his life and his essence — “Who am I?” Greatly touched by one person’s treatment of his worth as a human being, he declares his new-found identity which would henceforth determine his destiny. He chooses to follow a different path.
Many more twists and turns would develop in his lifetime but in the final scene when he is about to die, there is a reprise of the melody “I dreamed a dream of days gone by” with different lyrics; perhaps the most memorable line reflects a Torah principle: “to love another person is to see the face of God.”
While that is described from the point of view of the person choosing to love others by showing it in deed and action (as opposed to mere verbal declaration), the impact is even greater upon the recipient, not to forget others who witness something out of the ordinary. They become aware that this is not the norm in human behavior. Ultimately it does translate to catching a glimpse of something ‘not of this world’, call it Godliness or Godlikeness. To those of us ‘in the know’, we associate the standard of goodness or better yet, RIGHT-ness with the self-revealing God on Sinai who requires right behavior from His people as recorded in His Torah.
Unfortunately, right behavior and right choices do not always translate into the desired consequences in a world whose values run counter to Torah. Often those who choose the right path, do the right thing, consistently live as righteously as possible in a world system where unfortunately, wrong prevails , find themselves ill-fitted and do not always get the promised “blessing for obedience”, at least not on this side of eternity.
So how does this relate to the original question “Who am I?”
Ponder this: You are not your thoughts, your emotions, your body, your money, your career or your property. You discover your essence usually in life-threatening situations such as natural calamities like devastating earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes when you are reduced to wanting only to survive and nothing more and you fast realize what is of supreme importance to you.
There is an article that makes one think of how to answer the ‘who am I’, here are some select quotes:
- Who are we, after all? Are we our work, or are we eternal souls? If we fear that we’ll become nothing if we let go of our persona, then we are in a state of spiritual exile. If we have always defined ourselves in terms of our career, property, social status and what others think of us, then we are not our own person. Our soul is then in exile. We are trapped in our thoughts, our feelings, our body, our money, our social status, and everything else that makes up our transient character. The soul is lost in the ego and we will feel estranged to our true selves eternally connected to God.
- We need to reclaim our self — our individual “I” — and redirect it to its source, the “Ultimate I.” When we do this, we experience the mystical meaning of the first commandment heard at Mt. Sinai 3,300 years ago: “I am God your Lord, who took you out of Egypt.” This is the true path to personal empowerment, spiritual liberation, inner peace and fulfillment.
- We naturally want to experience the truth of who we are. We seek a connection to a greater whole because we are connected to a greater whole. The spiritual disciplines of a commandment-driven life enable us to consciously center and anchor our self in God and live in service. They empower us to disengage from the outer trappings of our persona and feel at one with God through the joy of service.
- A Torah life is all about freedom and self-actualization. It is not about changing who you are, but being you.
- To be all that you can be, you need to know who you really are, who is your eternal root, what is your divine purpose and service on earth.
- To serve God means to embody and channel into the world God’s love, wisdom, understanding, kindness, justice, compassion, beauty, truth, peace, etc. When you act mercifully, you are serving to make manifest the source of all mercy. When you act intelligently, you are serving to make manifest the source of all intelligence. And when you serve justice, you are serving to make manifest the source of all justice. You experience the joy of ultimate meaning when you make your life a means to an end, greater than yourself. But when you make your life the be all and end all, then that is the end of your life.
- We will not be punished for our sins, but by our sins. Nor will we be rewarded for our service, but by our service [underscore added].
Notice the wording of the last entry. What does it mean? Dabariym/Deuteronomy 28 spells out blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. The consequences are ‘automatic’ as in ‘built-in.’
When people look at you, what do they see? There is a game played by some talk show hosts whereby a picture is shown to a guest who is supposed to say one word to describe the person in the picture. If someone were to describe you in one word or a phrase, don’t you wonder what will be said? Most likely, your dominant trait or characteristic or feature would be it. Physical features are most likely to be cited: bald, bearded, tall, short, fat, thin, beautiful, ugly. mole on nose, etc. Those who know more about you might say: feisty, sweet, kind, greedy, boring, etc. Often people are surprised at the word used to describe them by those who know them better than others or who know them best, even more than they know themselves.
Wouldn’t it be a surprise to hear this word “Godly”, specially when you think you are ‘anything but’? Ahem, toot-your- horn-time . . . those who know me will hardly agree but that word popped up during a family game where the question I happened to pick was: “How would you describe me?” Of course, you expect none of your children to admit what they truly think of you (the negative part, that is), although “impatient” would be a fit. One son was gracious to say “Godly” while the other said “biblical”. I get to pick the winning answer and I chose my daughter-in-law’s: “Real”. A compliment in my book, it is all of the following: ‘what you see is what you get’, no pretensions, you’re predictable, you say it like it is, you don’t beat around the bush; you express your likes and dislikes; people know how to relate to you because they know what to expect, there are no surprises, you are what you do . . . and don’t do! It doesn’t win you popularity points for sure, but people know where you stand.
If being “real” is “Godly” then accept the compliment! Now, if a real person, observable such as myself, could be defined from my actions and self-declarations, could an invisible God be known through His creation and His Self-revelation? What if God asks “do you know Who I am”?
A bit of diversion but be patient, there’s a point to this. How did anybody know who Jesus the Nazarene was/is according to Christian records, “scripture”?
Matthew16:13-20 (NIV):
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[d]loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of graceand truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[b] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Exodus 34: 5-7
5 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the YHWH.
6 Then YHWH passed by in front of him and proclaimed,
“YHWH, YHWH,
and abounding in lovingkindness
7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands,
who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin;
yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished,
visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”…
That is just the beginning; there are clearly many more statements spread throughout the TNK. There is no reason to ‘guess-timate’ the Creator/Revelator on Sinai/God of Israel, He has spoken . . . over and over and over . . . about what He is like, what pleases Him, what He requires not only of the chosen people but of all humanity! One can write up a Divine Profile from His words recorded in TNK. The ultimate answer to the question in the title of this post, “Who am I?”
I am Yahweh, and there is no other;
there is no God but Me.
I will strengthen you,
though you do not know Me,
[Holman Christian Standard Bible]
