We are neither made nor unmade by what we do or by what others do to us. The heart of our identity lies not in our hands, but in God's hands. We are most properly ourselves because God is in us and we are in God. No doubt, what we or others have inscribed onto our souls and bodies marks us and helps shape who we are. Yet it has no power to define us. God's love for us, indeed God's presence in us and our being "caught up beyond" ourselves and being placed "into God" most fundamentally defines us as human beings and as individuals...
It follows that, in terms of identity, we are not fundamentally the sum of our past experiences...Our memories, experiences, and hopes still matter; but they qualify rather than define who we are. If this is correct, the grip of the past on our identity has been broken.
Miroslav Volf ~ The End of Memory
1 comment:
Thanks for this. I'm thinking about it. Christ was definitely shaped by his experiences...even in his resurrection body, he was scarred. And what had happened to him truly mattered to every one and at every level there is. But also, he was truly himself all the way through it. He didn't react against (thus allowing the others to define him in some way). He didn't rise up against his captors. He stuck with the plan of doing and being the Father's will even though the thought of that agony was enough to sweat blood out his pores.
And this was done for the sake of the joy that was before him. His relationship with the Father fundamentally defined him. Joy fundamentally defined him.
Thanks for this. K
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