From "Me" to "We"

 

Last month, I invited you to pay attention to the stories you tell yourself.  I encouraged you to think about the moments that made you…you.  Yet, your life is not just a solo, one-person play.  You are surrounded by a cast of characters.  This may include family and friends and fellow church members as well as people you meet when out and about in the world.  Relationships are vital to life.  

There is a “we” inside every “me”.  

There is more to you than the story you tell.  People leave fingerprints upon our hearts.  We are shaped by those we encounter and engage in life.  This can be in good ways and in not-so-great ways.  

There is always the on-going, unending discussion around nature and nurture.  For example, am I a type-A personality because that is the way my brain is hard-wired?  Or because I can still hear my parents telling me that to get ahead in life, I had to get good grades?  Or is it both?  Would I be a different person if I had gone to a different college or seminary or served other churches?  Or are there certain parts that are stable, static to myself that are there regardless of whether I am in Alaska or Florida? 

 

Everyone is now thinking, “Bring back the Winnie the Pooh quotes!!” 

 

Don’t worry, we won’t get too philosophical or scientific or heady here.  I am fascinating in the ingredients of the recipe of my life, which includes others! 

 

Today, I want you to take a piece of paper and draw a circle. 

 

In that circle I want you to write down words that make you…you.

 

For example, I could write, “husband,” “father,” “pastor,” “writer,” “connoisseur of bad jokes,” “someone who loves to read,” “graduate of Drake, United Seminary, and Luther Seminary.”  Try to fill up the entire circle with words.  You can think back to when you were 15 years old and things you loved to do, that made you feel alive.  Then, fast-forward through your life, picking out moments that stick and stand out as significant that shaped you.  Another thing I would add to the circle is “fascination with creation”.  I feel most alive when outside, solar powered by the sun!  By the way, this is a GREAT chance to get out your life-giving list from last week and let this exercise inform and help you.

 

Wait, you think, that was actual homework? 

 

There is an energy, life, light, love that makes you…you.  Describe, define that ~ give voice to that.  If you need some help, let me know.  I want you to begin to put words around the uniqueness of your energy in the world today.  I want you to see the ways God has fashioned, formed, and loved YOU into being.  There is a light within you, let that shine forth as you give voices to the beauty of you.