|
| Author | Topic: Who are you? |
| Pastor |
posted 2/16/08 1:08 AM
IN both the readings in Daniel and in the stories of Jesus, the issue is knowing who you are. Daniel remains who he is, a person of faith, dispite the trials and traps set for him. Jesus too does not get carried away with the accalades that people give him or the criticism that follows. I was once told that "normal" means that you would do the same thing if no one was watching or a million people were watching. What percent of your life do you think you are normal? And do you act that way because you don't care, or because you feel gifted by God to be that way? |
| Karen Berger |
posted 2/17/08 1:30 AM
I think I heard PASTOR say that you know you're being yourself if you're the same everywhere you go! I ask myself that question often because I feel the same, but I often ask God to help me remember what's the right thing to do when I'm getting more bombarded with messages that conflict with God's word. I have noticed since moving closer to town and away from where praying in public and talking about your faith is a norm to where it's deemed weird. Fortunately, an equal number of positive, reaffirming-of-faith messages reach me as well. Realistically, I think that if you're a person who seeks to always learn and grow in your faith, you will attract faith-boosters. |
| Karen |
posted 2/18/08 3:50 AM
I wasn't going to use my name, but my answer gives me away on this one so........... According to your definition I guess I must be normal -- how funny since I'm actually not normal by society's definition of the word, since I have a mental disabiity. However, it is because of having bipolar that I have become "normal." When I was younger, in an effort to blend in, I think I became a different person for every group I was in. I remember that it was very stressful when people in my groups overlapped. In learning how to deal with the bipolar, I learned to be myself -- my same self -- in whatever group I was in. I look at it as an example of God using something bad for good. So, yes, for me the ability to be normal or the same in every group would be a gift from God. The thing that often interferes or prevents me from taking further action is shyness. And, then I wonder if I'm really shy or I just think I am...... |
| Pastor |
posted 2/18/08 5:41 PM
Do you see how easy it is to confuse "normal" with "what everyone is doing." The stories of Daniel and the stories of Jesus point to people who are not "normal" in the sense that they do not do what everyone else does. What makes them "normal" is that they are able to be authentically themselves in every situation. Much of it is where we derive our identity. As Karen says when she tried to fit in she had a different identity in every group, and it was difficult when groups overlapped. But if our identity is from God (alone) then we are the same, and people can love us for who we really are (perhaps the only way to feel authentically loved) Having a disorder may make you "abnormal" to the world, but as I think you have come to see, there is a calling here. God is using that in you for some reasons, to reach people and help people that need someone like you. We have had book discussions at church on several of John Ortberg's books. He has one out now called "Everyone is Normal 'til You Get to Know Them". I suspect the notion is that God has uniquely gifted all of us. We are not so much alike as we are complimentary- meaning we fit together, not cookie cutter replicas of each other. Jesus encounters the most difficulty (and judgement) when people are telling him who he is suppose to be and what he is suppose to do. I suppose we will all have this, but faith reminds us to look to God, and not listen to the world. |
|
|