What a question; few words but a depth of meaning that I’ve concluded I shall never truly uncover or know to the fullest extent. Am I what parents call me, “daughter;” or spouse calls me, “wife:” or teacher calls me, “student;” or employer calls me, “employee;” or person who lives next door calls me, “neighbour;” or grocery store manager calls me, “shopper?” Good heavens, no wonder I ask this question with so many labels pinned upon this physical personhood! No wonder I am “confused” about “who I am.” Which label shall I wear today; better still, how many of the labels shall I wear over the next 24 hour period of time.
The age old, never ending question that every human being has asked him/herself at one point in their life, still remains unanswered by me. I’ve come to the realization that it is a question whose answer I will never fully know until I see my Creator face to face; until this human journey ends.
But it is about the journey, isn’t it? Life is living this moment, this second fully and in so doing uncovering a little more about who I am. With each new “uncovery” (I always say “uncovery” and other such derivatives, as opposed to “discovery” because I believe all that is exists waiting to be uncovered), a little more of me is exposed, comes to life and is visible to me and the physical realm that we call reality. I believe that the essence of all human kind cannot be seen by the naked eye; that it is covered, clothed in flesh.
Those labels referenced in the first paragraph of this blog do not in any way tell me “who I am.” They are just that, “labels” for a “function” I might perform in this human existence. Take a look at them; they are transistory, that is they apply only for certain periods of what we call “time” in our human existence. Does that mean, for instance, when I am no longer studying, bearing the label student, that I “cease to exist?” Of course the answer is no, because here I sit, writing this blog.
I am (without knowing who) much more than this – I have to be, and I am not transistory like the labels that have been applied throughout the course of “time” that I’ve “existed” as flesh and blood. Just as the “student” and other labels are transistory, but for a space of time, I believe so too the flesh. Does this mean when the flesh ultimately rots and dies, I no longer exist? No….
So, I ask again, Who Am I?
A scripture comes to mind where we are told that He (YHWH), “is the potter” and we “are the clay.” He moulds and forms us into the human vessel that He would inhabit for the fulfillment of His Holy purpose in our human lives.
Think about this aspect of potter and pottery. We’ll use a tea cup as an example of the pottery that is being made, and I shall be the potter for this telling (keeping in mind that I am in fact the pottery in His hands). I make this wonderful tea cup. It’s beautiful to look at, or not if I am not very good at my skill. But it’s my creation, perhaps one of my first, and I’ve not perfected my craft. You see, I am human and I am flawed. On the other hand, the Master Potter knows no imperfection, so I must conclude that when He crafted me, He did so in perfection.
Now back to my perfect or not so perfect tea cup. I’ve done it, I’ve created it. Now what? It’s a cup, a vessel and it’s purpose is to be filled with a beverage for someone to drink. But wait, someone has to fill the cup – first deciding what to fill it with. Then someone has to pick it up and consciously decide to drink from the cup. Without that someone, and we’ll assume it is me, the potter, making the decision to use the cup, it remains just that – an empty vessel of no use in and of itself.
I would not have made that cup, unless I had a purpose; unless I intended to use it for what I intended.
So too, our Heavenly Father. He would not have made you and I without a purpose. But, that purpose cannot be fulfilled unless we agree to allow Him to accomplish that purpose; to fill us up as it were and then allow someone else to drink of that goodness that we’ve been filled with by Him. If we don’t use up what’s in the cup (us), it will stagnate, dry up or evaporate and be of no good to anyone.
So, I ask again, who am I?
I am His vessel and I am created for His purpose and I need to allow Him to fill me up for His purpose and allow Him, give Him permission to “pick me up” and “use” me for what He intended when He created me. Did the “cup” know when it was being crafted, that it was going to become a cup? Did it even know what a cup would be used for or even that it would be used?
Do we human kinds really know what we are capable of accomplishing in His Holy Hands? I dare say the answer to that is no, we did not, and no one will ever know the totality of what has been created by Him can accomplish, by Him, until we allow Him to do it.
