April 21, 2015

• Who and what you are

God, who created all and to whom all thanksgiving is due, blesses each of you in your lives, lives filled with demands, interests, and challenges that shape on a day to day basis much of what you become.

There is a big difference between who you are and what you are. We speak so often about the who, the spirit, the presence of God within, and that all are of equal importance because of the who. But we would like to speak about the what, for it is in the what that you find your daily engagements, and it is the who that often can inform the what. Let’s consider the what.

Each of you pursues your own interests and commitments, and it is these interests and commitments that help to provide you with a sense of value in your living. It is the what that often indicates in a direct way the view you hold of yourselves and the view you have of others. The what is the first aspect of another that you are engaged with, and it is only upon deep reflection that some of you, some of the time, relate beyond the what and find connection to the who. It takes effort, great effort, to acknowledge deeply that on the who level you are all the same, you are all a part of God, you are all equal. Daily you are reminded of how you are different, and it is these differences that are a manifestation of what an individual is. It is not important whether what someone does is considered menial or evidence of great leadership, for everyone is identified in some way with what they are.

Your engagement with life around you is observed often by what you do, what keeps you occupied in your connection with others. You may be a laborer or a physician or a teacher, philosopher, counselor. What you do is how you connect with others through the mind or through the body, the spirit. Some engage with others through service. Others engage with others within the community by example, by self-sacrifice, by giving. The choice of what you are is limitless. Who you are finds its true voice in what you are. You may consider who you are to be the most important component of you as a person, but the who needs a voice. The who must be accompanied somehow by commitment, and that commitment is what you are.

As we look at your activities on a daily basis, we don’t assume that some activities are more worthwhile than others. Some activities are immediately evident to others, but there are many activities that are not observable. If one of your activities is prayer, then what you are is someone engaged in prayerful commitment. Those for whom you pray will often be unaware of what you are. If you serve as a leader in a faith group, however it may be called, what you do is often much more visible, but that visibility is no more valuable than what someone does through prayer.

Each of you can define yourselves by what you do, what you are. You can each select a label that best describes your commitment to life around you. When you consider what you are, ask yourselves truly is this what you want to be. Does what you are act as a clear reflection of who you are? How does your engagement in life reflect on the outside the life you know of that resides within?

Human life of course is not solely about image, but image by necessity does play a part, for you inspire others as a result of the perception others have of what you are, and that inspiration carries great weight when what you are becomes a true expression in the most profound sense of who you are. In all lives there are times for reflection and times for action. Those moments of reflection may be directed toward what lies within, who you are. But that reflection can also be an opportunity for evaluating what is most appropriate for you as you bring into reality what you are.

There are times for recharging the battery, and there are times for using the battery’s energy for a greater good. No one can devote a lifetime solely to what they are. Every individual must reflect, at some point, who they are—who they are inside, the values that are important, what they hold to be essential for a meaningful life. That reflection of what is essential then informs what you are. Identifying the what is not an identify of all that must remain unchanged, for what you are changes—changes according to where you are on your path of life, the challenges that come your way, the opportunities that come your way.

All must feel great flexibility in exercising what they are, but there is no real flexibility in the core understanding of who you are, for who you are remains who you are, and at that deepest of all levels, the who that identifies you is precisely the same who that identifies a total stranger. You know who you are, for all human beings are the same. The differences are in the whats. When there is a disconnect in understanding who you are and what you are, then your actions, your engagements no longer reflect the unity that you share with all that is. When the connection between what you are and who you are is strong, then no matter what you are, that expression is closely bonded with great energy to the reality that joins all of you together.

As you contemplate your lives, give careful consideration, considerable thought, to what you are. Not saying that one should be the same as what another does. Not meaning that one’s perspective must be the same as another’s perspective. But rather what you are is closely attached to the who.

The architect who is aware of the connection of all of humanity will create structures that serve that humanity, serving it in positive, supportive ways. The physician who is connected to the who serves others with understanding and love and true compassion. Anyone whose mission it is to serve others in some capacity will be guided to the most beneficial service by reflecting about who that individual is.

The reflection of who that we speak of is not limited to a single individual, for in understanding who you are, you must make the leap of accepting that another is essentially the same. It is a recognition of that sameness, the who that is shared, that then informs the what that characterizes the interaction with those who are surrounding. Life is not about the me; life is about the we, and we emphasize we, not us. Us is only partially inclusive. We is totally inclusive, and in understanding who you are and understanding who another is, you affirm the we that binds all together. When that is acknowledged fully, the specifics of what you are become less important, but the character of what you are reaches out and embraces the who of another as a further acknowledgment of one’s own who.

Reflecting God ultimately is an act; it is not a concept. When your actions are based on your understandings, then you can be assured that those acts are being guided in an appropriate way. So let the who you are become a kind of anchor, a kind of rudder that guides what you are, and in so doing, you will find yourselves more easily accepting what others are as a reflection of their own understandings. When those understandings are limited, the actions may be limited, but all are engaged on their own paths, and whether someone is further ahead on a path or behind is not of significance to you.

So do not judge who another is. Avoid judgment of what another person is. Allow them the chance to make their own connections between the what and the who. There is no race. There are not winners or losers. All are engaged in that process. Such engagement is never a straight line. That engagement can be more intense and then less intense. There is no direct acceptance that all progress of all people is steady. There should be no expectation for that steadiness, and therefore allow others to lose that connection between the what and the who, for they are not perfect, and you are not perfect. When you lose sight of that connection between the what and the who, accept yourselves as being part of a process of growth—growth in love, growth in understanding. Allow that process to be nonlinear and therefore free of judgment.

We see each of you growing. We see each of you at times making a connection between who you are and what you are, and who another is and what another is. Allow the process to unfold. Allow the growth as spirit beings to evolve according to your own individual paths, never measuring or comparing with another, and you will find in that process peace and acceptance of yourselves and others.

We love you for who you are. We love you for what you are. We love you for the connections that you make, one with another, and we love you especially when those connections are interrupted because that’s when you need the most love.

Be peaceful, be filled with faith, be empty of judgment, and look to life with joy and affirmation.

Amen.