| Who are you? Or Why are You? by Gretchen Eckes Who are you? An age-old question, one that has been asked so much that it has almost become cliché. Who are you? Do you know? Do you care? Throughout at least the last century, people have questioned who they are and have done different things to "find" themselves. From Thoreau living at Walden Pond for two years to middle-aged men having affairs; from women leaving their families to teenagers experimenting with drugs; people, Americans in particular, seem to need to DO SOMETHING in order to define who they are. Much of what passes for spirituality are really different methods for finding out who we are. Meditation, contemplation, Yoga, journaling, astrology, spiritual direction and religion are all part of our effort to figure out who we are. As children, we know very well who we are. We are the son or daughter of our parents, the sister or brother of siblings, a student in Ms. So-and-So's classroom. As we get older, we add more definitions: gender, race, religion (or non-religion), ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical characteristics, political party. I could easily say that I am a white, straight, married, Roman Catholic, German, Democrat woman. What does that tell you about me? What does that tell me about me? Perhaps, instead, I am defined by what I DO. I am a spiritual director, choir director and also work in healthcare. I am a mother. Does that tell you any more about who I really am? How about hobbies? I read, garden, make scrapbooks, work with silk flowers and, obviously, write. Now do you know who I am? If we do something together in a group or on a team, such as bowling or playing cards, does that tell you who I am? It's all about definition, not only of who we are but of WHY we are. The most basic work in spiritual direction is helping people figure out who they were BEFORE they were defined by the world outside of themselves, before they considered ethnicity, birth order, family connections or anything else. In other words, who are you as a naked soul? If you were raised in a religious home you may have been told that you are a child of God or an image of God. You may have been taught that you were created out of love, and that God would always love you. Others were raised believing that they were born a terrible sinner and could only hope to win God's love by following the straight and narrow of their own particular religion. On the other hand, if you were raised without a belief in a Supreme Being, you may have been taught that your life had no meaning beyond the short time on this earth ("go for the gusto!"), that you are merely a product of evolution, with no higher purpose than to continue the evolutionary process and enjoy yourself while doing it. Some of these carry pieces of truth, but stop short of completion. Quantum physics Some of the most exciting scientific work takes place in the field of quantum and sub-atomic physics. Beginning at the time Einstein advanced his theory of relativity, through the formulation of the principles of the Big Bang, science has reduced our reality to smaller and smaller pieces. No longer are protons, neutrons and electrons the smallest forms of matter -- they are almost huge in relation to the tiny particles that those same protons, electrons and neutrons are made of! And at the bottom of it all (so far, anyway) is pure energy. This energy was around for a long, long time. After many millions of years, it pulled itself together, and then blew apart into what we now call the "Big Bang." From that Big Bang came everything in the universe. Everything. And all of it is made of the same energy. The genius of the energy, henceforth called the Source, is that it could differentiate into an infinite number of shapes, colors, purposes and designs. It could become skin or fur, earth or water, grass or rock. Then it figured out that it could combine one form of itself with another and make something else. As time continued, more and more forms combined to become ever-more complex things. But no matter how complicated something became, it was still made of the same energy as each of its parts, and the same energy as all the other forms around it. Thus creation occurred. This Source, being totally creative, would then be what we call God, or the Supreme Being, the Divine or Holy One, and all that is comes from this one beginning. The Biblical religions had much of it right when they said that humans are images or children of God, but they did not take it far enough. In fact, we are created from the Holy One and carry the Divine in our DNA, as does everyone and everything in creation. When we finally realize this deep in our gut, we can no longer treat anything or anyone with less than compassion, because they are made of the same "stuff" as we. This can be a difficult concept to wrap our minds around. We are used to thinking of the Divine as being "out there." After all, if God is part of everything, including me, then to whom do I pray? Who can I blame when things go wrong, and who do I thank when things go right? Does that mean that God is also within evil, and disease and violence? It is very hard to internalize that it ALL is God -- that the Source is "out there" and within, that we are created for both joy AND sorrow, pain AND PLEASURE. These are the concepts and questions we wrestle with, as we get closer to the truth of who we are. The same power In the Conversations With God books, Neale Donald Walsh makes a compelling point about who we are -- pieces of God, or parts of God, placed here on earth to enable God to experience what God created! It's kind of like playing with a child; you may be able to play with, share with the child, but you cannot be the child. Lucky God! S/he has figured out a way to experience her creation in an unending number of ways. Jesus knew it, and he told people repeatedly that they had the same power as he, that they could do everything he could. This is the secret that all of the Masters have known -- we are Divine. We are created to combine with other Divine humans to make all of creation reach its infinite potential. In the truest sense, we are brothers and sisters, all sharing the Holy DNA. Further, we share with all the animals, plants and elements part of their holiness. When we understand this, we come closer to really knowing, deep down, that when we are good to others we are good to ourselves, and when we are unkind to others we are unkind to ourselves. Every thought or action does have a consequence, and as Divine beings we have it in our power to cause only good consequences. It turns out that the old '80s expression, "what goes around, comes around," which is really nothing more than a definition of karma, is true. Who am I? A Holy being. And a Holy Being is who you are. Gods and Goddesses all, we long to be reunited with the rest of our pieces, so to speak. We pray to be complete -- put together. The Source will experience creation through all of us, eventually reuniting with creation in the ultimate communion. In the Biblical story of the Exodus, Moses experiences God speaking to him from the burning bush. In amazement, he questions God. "Who are you?" he asks. "I am who I am," replies God. I am who I am. Gretchen Eckes is co-founder of Shekinah, an organization dedicated to assisting people in developing their personal spirituality through story, ritual, workshops and wisdom circles. A graduate of the Center for Spiritual Guidance Training Program, Ms. Eckes also has a private Spiritual Direction practice. For information on spiritual direction, wisdom circles or other Shekinah activities, call Gretchen at (763) 535-4261 or e-mail Shekinahmn@hotmail.com Copyright © 2004 Gretchen Eckes |
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April 2004 |
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