'Who' I am? What does that matter? Am I not, to you, 'who' you think I am, 'who' you see me as?
Who do you think you are?
Are we not all God's Children?
I am a Daughter of the Creator and the Holy Spirit, Sister to Jesus, as are you Daughter and Sister, or Son and Brother. The titles are ours by birthright, gifts of the Holy Trinity, whether we claim them or not.
Because part of the gift is also freedom to choose to accept or to reject the path we are given. Choosing Acceptance carries the responsibility of Being, to the best of our ability, Daughters and Sons of God - yet even Rejection can be reversed; therein lies Hope ... and Mercy ...
See, the Creator knows who we are, has known us since before our births, each and all of us.
Heaven knows we are not perfect Beings. We're going to fall flat on our faces time and again, we're going to get tired and cranky and whiny, we're going to know fear and pain and loss, we're going to doubt ourselves and the Creator who made us, we're going to say, 'What, are You crazy? We can't do this! We don't want to do this. We're falling down exhausted, our feet hurt, our backs are killing us, our hearts and wills are broken ... You're nuts if you think we can just keep going the way we are!'
And then, just when we're absolutely positive that we can't and won't carry on any further comes another breath, another bit of strength, a little more will ... and we take just one more step. And another. And another.
By that third step we might be coming to realize something.
We don't have to do this thing, whatever it may be, all alone.
For one thing, we have one another. When the time comes that each and all of us are about to go down in flames, we look around us and know that together we're going to make it through that next step, and the next, and the next. And so we do.
More importantly, when we've reached the end of our collective rope will come something we may have been too tired, too hurt, too disheartened to have thought much about. And within us something will stir; we'll find what it takes to get us the rest we need, the healing we need, the heart and the will that we need.
That, my friend, is a part of the gift as well.
Do you think the Spirit who dwells within us each and all doesn't know full well (having been a part of many more than just us from the dawn of Creation) that we're going to become tired and cranky and whiny, know fear and loss and doubt, fall flat on our faces?
When those times are upon us we'll find that sure enough we aren't strong enough, we aren't smart enough, we aren't tough enough, we aren't anything enough.
We aren't.
We don't have to be.
Someone Else already is.
Someone already has our aching backs. And our hurting feet. And our broken hearts, our exhausted wills.
What we are given to do we will also be given the means to do.
When we realize that, something inside of us relaxes. The absence of tensions we weren't even aware of frees up our own internal resources - believe that because it's true. It also opens a door, or a window perhaps, or maybe even just a bit of a chink in our walls (it doesn't really take all that much) that Hope can walk through, or come in like a breeze, or sneak up on us unexpectedly.
Such a simple thing, but so very hard to find out how to do - yet all we have to do is do it.
We are given a Command: Fear Not
That's not just a suggestion, folks.
That's a Command.
And it's followed by a Promise: I am with you
In other words: Don't worry. I've got this.
All that's required of us is to do the best we can with what we have to work with at any given time. What we need will come when it is most needed.
We, each and all, are gifted before birth with everything we'll ever need. We are known, cherished, Children of the Creator.
So really ... think about it ...
Someone who created the universes tells us, 'Don't worry. I've got this,' and proves it time and time and time again - and we're still fretting and fussing?
Well yeah, we are.
Not that it does us any good.
We've been doing it since we were old enough to know what worry is, we're doing it now, and we'll continue to do it. Probably most of us will spend our entire grown up lives that way - because we tend to forget that we are Children, Daughters and Sons, Sisters and Brothers, of ... hmmm ...
Do you remember the powerful arms of your father from when you were a very little child? The comforting ones of your mother? The hugs of a strong sibling? Not worrying about stuff like bills and fatigue and pain and all that?
Yep.
Guess what.
Confidence in yourself is not required. Strength of your own isn't mandatory.
And it doesn't really matter a whit 'who' you are or 'who' you are not in your own eyes or in the eyes of others. You are not just your own self. You have never been 'only' anything or anyone. There's no 'only' about you, never has been. God doesn't create us to be 'only'; we are created to be Daughters and Sons, Sisters and Brothers.
So:
Who Do You Think You Are!?
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