8th Grade Assembly

"A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying Him." T. Merton

Do you ever remember having junior high assemblies? Where they got everyone in the stuffy, hot gym together and made you sit really really close to the person next to you. Then they told you through dramatic skits and colorful clothing that the best person you can be is yourself. Did anyone else leave middle school with these haunted memories or is it just me?

Well I haven't heard a "Just be yourself" speech in a long time, but about a month ago I stumbled through a book called New Seeds of Contemplation, by Thomas Merton, and I found myself reading a "Just be yourself" speech. But it seemed to be less arbitrary from his point of view. He states that we are called to make a decision in our human state. This decision that T. Merton is writing about stems from the beginning of time. It is the decision of whether or not we are going to live out our lives in our created state or whether we are going to take a stick of dynamite to ourselves and face death. The decision of whether or not we are going to find our created being in our creator or if we are going to find our created being in something created.

This decision does not just impact our selves, like we often like to think, but it impacts the whole community. Many times we think that the self that we project upon other people or the self that we see in the mirror is either not good enough to be presented to the creator or is to good to be bothered with such trivial things like service.

When we have come to either of those conclusions we then set our eyes on the aesthetic lifestyle. We try and find our security in the things that seem to bide of our attention. We cling to our families, our lovers, our friends, our money, our pride, our selfish deprecation, even our theology. We create sand-built castles out of these things but when a storm comes the walls that are trying to protect our true selves become eroded. They get washed away in the senseless violence of death in the world.

This is all a side effect of trying to run away from just being ourselves. See, we aren't created in the waters of sin. We are created in the image of God. If we are created as 'sinners' then we cannot also be created in the image of God, because those two realities cannot exist together. They can sit side by side and be in existence but they cannot be intertwined.

So when we are asked to "Just be ourselves" in the essence of the kingdom of God we are asked to find our identity in that kingdom as children of God. This identity is not just a role that we play but is the redeemed person. We are called to be the child of God individually but also in community.

When we become to good for the community around us, and our created being finds identity in our pretentious piety we become again lost in the idol worship that swirled around the Israelites and that swirl around us.

The question remains; are you going to be yourself reflected in our creator? Or are you going to be marked and identified by your sin?