Who are we really?
By Fr.
ROY CIMAGALA,
roycimagala@gmail.com
December 12, 2013
"The communists tend to see man simply as a material creature, subject
only to social, economic, historical, political forces."
A story is said about
Alexander the Great who astounded a beggar who only asked for some
alms but instead was given the government of five cities. When the
beggar expressed his consternation, Alexander just said: “You asked
like the man you are. I give like the man I am.”
Well, that’s how the cookie
crumbles in this life. Whatever we do or say is determined by the way
we are. We understand, see and react to things according to the kind
of person we are.
As some Latin adages would
have it, “Operare sequitur esse” (our deeds are determined by our
being), or “Quidquid recipitur ad modum recipientis recipitur”
(Whatever is received is received according to the manner of the
receiver).
The guests in a wedding give
gifts to the newly-weds in accordance to their station in life. The
millionaire may give a car or a house, while an ordinary housewife may
give a set of chinaware. It can happen, though, that the latter gives
it more wholeheartedly than the former.
When you just have a little
money, you usually give a modest tip to the barber or the waiter. But
when you have a thick wallet, you tend to give away a lot more.
Different people react to
issues or tackle problems according to the way they are. The
intellectual sees things differently from the way a farmer sees them.
Same with how believers and unbelievers approach challenges.
This is a law of life that
somehow sheds light on the importance and the need of truly enriching
our identity, our humanity, because everything else in our life would
depend on who we really are.
I suppose we can readily see
that we are much more than just a biological creature, or a
socio-cultural product, or a political animal or economic phenomenon.
For sure, these aspects also go into our identity, but there must
still be some deeper underlying basis that holds these aspects
together.
Some ideologies have put
forward their conception of our nature. The communists tend to see man
simply as a material creature, subject only to social, economic,
historical, political forces. There is nothing beyond our death.
Atheists and agnostics tend
to limit us only to our temporal and earthly dimensions. Hardly
anything spiritual and supernatural is considered. In fact, they are
averse to such considerations. They claim there is no God, or that
God’s existence is doubtful, and therefore we hardly have any relation
with God.
We need to enrich our
identity because our humanity is not a static matter determined solely
by genes or legal status or some social and cultural criteria. Our
identity is a dynamic affair that ultimately depends on who we believe
we are.
The quest to know our real
identity and to bring our humanity to its fullness cannot help but
touch on our core beliefs. It has to enter into the question of
whether we are created, and if we are created, then how we are related
to our Creator. Is it a relation between a person and a thing, or
between a person and another person?
The Christian faith tells us
a wholistic vision of our humanity, one that covers not only the
temporal and earthly, but also the eternal and supernatural. It gives
meaning not only to the good events we have like our joys and
successes, but also the bad ones like our sufferings and defeats.
The Christian faith tells us
that we are persons, not things, since we have intelligence and will.
We can know and love. We can enter into a relationship and are
conscious of it. More than that, we are expected to keep and
strengthen that relationship.
This is a very crucial point
to be understood by us – in fact, by all of us as much as possible.
Sad to say, we often are remiss of this duty to keep and deepen this
relationship. We just let ourselves be led by some feeling or changing
perceptions. We seldom go to the root of our identity.
Our Christian faith tells us
that not only are we persons, created in the image and likeness of
God. We are children of God who with grace are expected to participate
intimately in the very life of God. We have been enabled for this
dignity, and this potential is made actual by God’s grace and our
correspondence to it.
This is the truth of our
faith that needs to be processed thoroughly and assimilated deeply so
we don’t get lost in the confusing ways of our earthly life.