In truly religious acts we discover who we are in God and who God is in us

One basic question we humans ask of ourselves is: “Who am I?”

It’s a short, but complicated question that takes many years to come up with a truly satisfying answer. As adults we usually start by defining our role in life – I’m a “butcher, baker or candlestick maker, etc.” Yet our roles in life are not who we are. That’s what we do; it’s not who we are.

Also, we should not define ourselves by our past – good or bad. We are not the sum of our past mistakes, especially those we keep secret. That’s something we did (hopefully we learned something from our mistakes). That’s not who we are. Similarly, we are not defined by our successes. While these are good things, they are part of our doing, not part of our being.

Some questions we should ask of our selves is: What are my values? Who and what do I love? What excites me? What is special about me? This basic task of self discovery will lead us to deeper loving relationships with God, others, and ourselves, and help us to live truly virtuous lives. God’s grace builds on nature; it does not destroy who we are.

The Book of Genesis reminds us that God created us in the Divine image and likeness. Since everyone is made in the image of God, then we need to recognize, honor, and respect the image of God in everyone.

We humans began life with our unique divine DNA, an inner force in the center of our being. That Divine Image wants to be fulfilled and show itself. “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.

He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ.” (Eph. 1:4-5). This is our True Self.

Jesus revealed and accepted that human and divine are not separate, but one! When we deny this, we deny who we are. For many of us, this seems just too good and too dangerous to be true. Just listen to the daily news or the headlines of our newspapers. They don’t reflect the Divine.