An Identity Opportunity

I have been thinking a lot about identity lately. It’s  stressful to really look deeply into who we are (or aren't) because we may find that some things need to change in order for us to become the people God wants us to be.

I have heard over the years that the Chinese symbol for "crisis" is also the symbol for "opportunity."  So this "crisis" that I have been experiencing of trying to understand the ways that God is calling me and our community to expand our definitions of who we are is an opportunity to claim those things about ourselves that help us and to leave behind some of those things that hold us back.  So easy to say...

When children start the process of going from childhood to adulthood the stages are often labeled as "growing pains"  because it is hard to do but there is no other choice.  Some things just have to grow and change even if we aren't ready or don't really want them to change.  Have you ever thought that a teenage boy wants his voice to crack when he's speaking in front of his class or that a teenager girl wants to go through the "awkward" stages as her body changes?  I don't remember it being like that...I remember having no choice but trying to make the best of it at the time.  

I wonder though if part of the problem now is that I expected to be done with dealing with the changes after puberty was over, like growing up had an endpoint.  Do we set ourselves up for even more discomfort with the changes that are inherent in living by telling ourselves that only a few times in life will the changes be out of our control?  The thing I am learning is that often things are out of my control but there are lots of opportunities for me to understand or gracefully address the changes in my life and in the development of our community of faith.  (There is also the option of giving into the chaos and losing almost all perspective, I confess I sometimes find myself there :) )  So how do we as a community engage in the opportunity of renewal and recreation by gracefully attending to the changes of our life together and finding ways to continue living through the sometimes difficult "growing pains" of discovering a new identity?  

  

I don’t have the answer, but I believe that together we may discover the answers by embracing the changes while seeking answers to the questions that challenge us and our world.