It's been said that we focus on doing things in the middle chapters of our lives. Often times we define ourselves by our roles: husband, wife, father, mother, boss, engineer, chaplain, pastor, son, daughter etc. In the later chapters of our lives we shift our focus from what we do, to who we are. The stuff we do is still important, meaningful; and provides purpose, but we need to go deeper. Who are we? the location of our significance shifts from 'doing' to 'being'. The spring of our identity is found to be rooted somewhere deeper than our roles.
The ancient Hebrews understood this and spoke of grief, joy, life and even the eventual embrace of death to come from deep within. They located this 'place' idiomatically as from within their kidneys or intestines. We still speak of have the gall, or have the guts. Once Greek became the lingua franca, the idiom used was the heart. In our hearts we find truth, meaning purpose and identity.
As I think I have commented elsewhere, the heart has become overused in our time. What the Bible means when it speaks of the 'heart' is that core of our character from which spring two things: our relationship and our motives. (I borrow here from the holiness thinking of Tom Noble. Thanks for your clarity, Professor Noble!)
So if we want to chart our journey in the quest for discover our identity and purpose, we should assess our relationships,and then our motives. For example - are they healthy? Do they serve me first, or others first (a good definition of love in action.) To they embrace the marginalized, the needy, the vulnerable and those with no voice? Or do I only use relationships to meet my needs, climb my social ladder and leverage to my advantage?
The journey towards Christ is a journey is which we are changed ever more into His likeness. The more we study Him, the more we live His commandments to love God, love others, and most difficult of all perhaps, to love ourselves - we are transformed. Of course you will always be you and I will always be me - we are unique AND we are made in the image of God. My parents told me that we become like the people we spend time with. It's true, and it applies to spiritual growth too.
Spending time with Christ, in reading and applying the books of the New Testament (in the context of the Old Testament(, in praying with and for others, in serving the humble in society, and most of all in worship and enjoying this gift of life...we grow more like God. We are lights in the darkness, salt to a bland and rotting world, a city on a hill, a thousand points of light.
Enjoy the quest.
