The Only Identity That Hasn't Changed - Bravester

In the beginning God made us in his image. It’s the only image we’re supposed to fit.

“I don’t think it’s meaningless, the story that says God sculpted us from clay. Of all the things He made, humankind was the first that He touched. The first breath we tasted was His exhale. I don’t think it’s meaningless that the first time humanity looked up at the eyes of God, His hands were dirty and He was close.

“Maybe we missed it—what God showed us when He first introduced Himself: that He will crawl into the dirt to be near us, and He will fill our lungs with air when we don’t know how to breathe.” –Nightbirde (Jane Kristen Marczewski) https://www.nightbirde.co/blog/2021/9/27/room-for-air

(Those are the most beautiful words.)

We also begin with a flash of light. When the sperm meets the egg, an explosion of tiny sparks erupts from the egg at the exact moment of conception. This is zinc radiating out at conception. Your life began in a bright flash of light. (I learned that amazing fact from Love Thy Body, Nancy Pearcey, p. 61)

In the beginning there was light…and then you. Did you know that?

We begin with God’s touch, God’s breath, a flash of light, and maybe an angel’s final gesture. All of this beginning—before we are able to do anything—gives us the foundation of our importance.

There is a Jewish legend that says just before God puts a soul into the body that soul is asked to forget its life before birth. Hence, just as the soul enters the body, one of God’s angels presses the baby’s mouth shut, as a gesture that, during its earthly life, it is to be silent about its divine origins. The little crevice below each person’ nose is the imprint of the angel’s forefinger, sealing your lips—and that is why, when you are trying to remember something, during your ponderings, your own forefinger spontaneously rises and rests in that crevice. –Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing, p. 16

I believe with God’s hands in the dirt for the creation of us that God is the one who imprints on us first. I believe God speaks to us first in the womb. The Bible confirms this. That ache in your soul also confirms this. We are all born into this world looking to be found.

This enchanting ache in your soul has you on a continual search to connect with those first words spoken to you. You’ve been seeking to hear those words again with every life decision you have made.

Maybe you trusted God once. Maybe not anymore.

Maybe you can’t possibly believe that God is good.

Maybe you would rather depend on you than depend on a Savior who isn’t you.

You’ve made lots of decisions and still haven’t quieted that ache.

Human approval is fleeting. You need an approval that is secure, like larger-story-everlasting-that-has-no-end secure.

I’m hoping you can’t unsee the beauty of your creation. This is where your identity begins and ends. Everything in the middle is the brave decisions you get to make.

We are made in the image of God which in Hebrew is b’tzelem Elohim (Genesis 1:27). The word for image in Hebrew is tzelem and is derived from the Hebrew word tzel which means shadow. Elohim is god. A shadow does not act independently but is a reflected image. Here’s is that connection we as the created have to our Creator.

We start with a spark of light and then we get the choice to allow God’s light to shine through us to be a shadow. We are forever connected, whether you realize it or not.

Your soul realizes it already.

We do and try so many things to comfort our soul. Work success. Overachieving. Finding “the one.” Busily involving yourself in the life of others, even good social justice causes. Making yourself small. Dropping out. Seeking that human approval that is fleeting.

Considerable emphasis is placed on finding your own identity and respecting the identities of others. You defend diversity and equality and you want to correct injustices based on identity. Something as concrete as gender is now blurred. You are told you aren’t supposed to see color. Finding your identity has always been a part of adolescent development (and delayed adolescent development) but now there are no boundaries to find your identity. While this is supposed to be freedom, it is overwhelming. (The effects of this are just starting to be seen.)

Your soul realizes it already.

What words did God speak to you before you were born in that secret place? You know…those same words you so desire and are striving for to be spoken about your life now.

Perhaps it is something like this, “I don’t love you for what you do. I love you because you are mine.”