I am who we are. Really?
This hungry searching for transcendent meaning is a given in human existence. It just is. Deep down inside we know there is a desperate yearning for something. We can try to hide from it; try to tune it out; look for other ways to find the transcendent “connect” we long for. By “transcendent” I mean something to which we can connect that is “above” us; something that we can “hmmmm” to “… I like that. I am going to go for it because it means something to me.” This happens to all of us at some time or another.
One of the easiest ways to find that transcendent meaning we seek, that “connect,” is to identify ourselves with some group. “I am us.” We take on the ways of others. We make idols out of ideals and issues because we need to identify ourselves with something that will give meaning and significance to our existence.
But consider this. There will always be a searching within us. Why? We came into this world as one person unique unto ourselves. No one is like any of us. We are, to put it bluntly, ultimately alone in the world. All our relationships are a gift along the way to lessen the loneliness of being alive. Our family and friends and cohorts are something to be thankful for.
The question then becomes: where do we find the meaning we seek that recognizes the uniqueness of each one of us? Where do we feel we belong, to God or some group? Where can we find a sense of that will carry us through the hard times? Where and how can we find that sense of belonging we so desperately seek deep down within our unique selves? And what happens if we are led by what we seek in a way different than the group we think we belong to? The question boils down to
Who are we?
Where do we find that sense of who we really are?
What does it all mean?
Any thoughts?