How do I take myself? What
image do I have of myself? Which theme sounds better in me? Do I take myself as
a precious being? Do I believe in ‘Yes I Can’ or I always see myself in terms
of limitations and as the unfortunate one?
As a social and spiritual
being, I share a link with my Creator. Nevertheless, how many times do I
recognize that? I am a being who is unique compared to other creatures. Am I
convinced that I am created in the image and likeness of God? This calls for realization
i.e. self-awareness. Before I put into practice the social nature in me, it is
very important to know myself first. In addition to knowing oneself, the sense
of feeling worthy is also necessary as one gets to accept who and how he/she
is.
Truthfully, there are
moments of doubt whereby one is in dilemma of who he/she is. However, these
recurrent doubtful moments should not be the limitation of one’s urge to be
him/herself. One preacher once said that, there are two important days in life
and it is in these two days that one really be. The first important day is the
day of birth. It is in this day when one comes into the universe and meets the
beautiful creation of God. The second great day in life is the day one really
knows the reason why he/she was born. I would like to focus on this second
vital day.
In life, we all strive to
live but it is unfortunate that many try to survive instead of living. In
living, one has to know the reason behind his existence. The realization of
this greatly hidden treasure is the beginning of knowing oneself. Imagine a
moment of unawareness of oneself; I do not mean the philosophical ultimate of
nothingness but the reality of oneself. A being who is unaware of oneself I can
depict him/her as the most dangerous being both to himself/herself and to other
beings. I know it sounds controversial but why do I write so? Take this human
being, who does not know the reason why he/she is alive, and place him/her in
any life circumstance. This being, I presume will not be able to comprehend why
he/she is even there in the first place. If he/she might not know all that, do
you expect him/her to be a liberal and a responsible being? Will he/she able to
take care of the other(s) when he/she does not know the reason behind his own
beingness? I believe the probability is almost zero, if it is not zero. In
every life situation, this person may not be responsible to meet his/her moral
and spiritual obligations. However, the million-dollar question is, have you
and I realised the reason why we (I) were (was) born?
It is from the realization
of the ultimate reason of my being when I can really believe in myself and see
myself as a worthy being. I can be able to see myself as God’s precious being.
I can see the actualization of God’s Word as in Isaiah 43:4, “because you are
precious in my eyes and honoured, and I love you ….” This is the moment of
seeing God’s greatness in one’s life as a merciful and caring Father; the
Immanent God who lowers Himself to be like us for the sake of our salvation (Phil
2:6-11). God who takes care of us like in Mt 6:25-30, but I believe that one
has to realize himself/herself first in order to know that he/she has a share
in these greatest treasures. On top of that, one has to be humble in his/her
beingness, Just like Jesus accepted to take a form of a slave. I have to be
able to celebrate my beingness and always see myself as an unworthy being a
priority to have God’s providence but at the same time, a being whom God loves
and see as precious.