It seems that in every person there are two personalities. On the one hand you have the physical being (flesh), on the other you have the metaphysical being (the mind/soul). Contained in each person is two. The irony is these two different persons inside my head contradict themselves. One is telling me to live for the moment while the other is telling me to hold out for something better. One says not to worry about living the examined life while the other is saying that the unexamined life is not worth living. The latter is saying that there is an afterlife and what you do here does affect that life to some degree or another and the former is saying there is no life after death therefore live for yourself. One says "You are your own god," while the other says, "Humble yourself because you are insignificant and nothing you can do will ever change that".
How do we know which is the real me? Or is there a real me, and whatever that struggle is going on inside my head, is merely a figment of my imagination? The great thinkers struggled with this question and seemed to all come to the same conclusion. But why or rather how did they come to a congruent decision about the real self?
The metaphysical self seems to be the most improbable. Amongst our society, instant gratification is all that people care about. Therefore why take a chance and hold out for something I am not certain about? Why not indulge in the moment and live life for me? That'll make me the happiest won't it? The truth however, is quite the opposite. In Ecclesiastes, King Solomon experiments with both of his persons.
He lives for Himself. Indulges in every sort of thing that would seem to make him happy. Yet in the end, he finds that all is vanity and chasing after the wind. Nothing he did to satisfy his immediate wants were enough to make him happy. Ecc. 2:16-17 "I communed with my heart, saying, 'Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.' And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind." It was impossible to satisfy his flesh, because everything he tried was unfulfilling, and merely chasing after the wind.
Solomon then states what is worth living for in Ecc. 12:13-14 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil." If this truly is what is worth living for, then the metaphysical part of me is the real me. To fear God and obey Him is not instantly gratifying....In fact it is a lot of work! However, anything that is worth having is worth working for.
This is what Socrates meant when he said, "the unexamined life is not worth living". Because by not examining ones life and merely doing what "feels good" is only to become more frustrated with something one does not understand! The reason one does not understand is because one has not examined. This is why so many adults have a mid-life crisis. They have lived forty or so years of not examining their life and all of a sudden they have to face reality. All of a sudden they begin to involuntarily examine their life, which turns out to be a whole lot of nothing. They find out that what they have been living for either does not exist or was extremely childish.
It is this very fact of living an unexamined life that makes teenage peers so incredibly frustrating. They are ignorant of their ignorance.
So how does one, who has finally faced the reality of their nothingness, begin to find their true self? From the Christian stand point I believe C.S. Lewis put it best. In order to allow our true selves to be the most prevalent in our lives is to let Christ rule. To remove our physical selves that Christ might "move in". It is when we allow the creator to shape us and mold us into who He originally created us to be. "It is when I turn to Christ, when I give myself up to His Personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own....there are no real personalities anywhere else," -C.S. Lewis "The Buisness of Heaven". This rings so true, because when one looks at all of the evil leaders of history, they all were fairly much the same in their personalities (Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Marx). However among the saints there was a glorious difference!!
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6 comments:
That is probably the most clarity I’ve ever heard on the subject of identity.
I was just talking with someone yesterday about the internal contradiction and seeking what methods exist to cope with it. Unfortunately I actually have between 4 and 5 audible contrasting perspectives roaming around in my head (there may be more, but they haven’t made themselves known yet) but I do realize that we’re talking about two elements found in all of humanity, not schizophrenia. :o)
I struggle with the same dilemma of examination; sometimes it seems that ignorance would be bliss (not that I’m not ignorant, but being contently ignorant would be bliss). But, you’re right; it never works. It was interesting; I once read something by C.S. when he spoke of comfort. He said that comfort is the one thing that you can’t have by seeking it. If you seek comfort at the cost of truth, in the end you will have neither. Comfort can only come as a result of pursuing something else. If you seek truth, comfort (in the sense of spiritual peace) can follow, but you cannot find comfort on its own. I suspect that happiness is much the same; if you seek happiness at the cost of truth, you will find yourself most miserable; whereas, when the Truth sets you free, there is no real place for sorrow.
Though I myself have not encountered a midlife crisis, I think that’s a very plausible assessment. It is ironic really how predictable those susceptible persons are when they reach that age in contrast to those of a more sound understanding. They never seem to panic like that. Perhaps it’s also because they don’t seem to fear death; an unavoidable reality that though one can put-off for the first half of their life, it is much more difficult to ignore when approaching the second half.
Since “let” and “allow” are words of permission and since the ability to permit something requires an amount of authority or superiority, I have a few hang-ups regarding the terminology of “let Christ rule” and “allow the creator to shape us”, however when reading the point C.S. Lewis was making, I think I understand what it is you mean. And I agree that we cannot find true identity in ourselves because we are not authors of any kind. As characters in a story, the only “identity” we possess is merely ideas in the mind of the Author that He decides to actuate in us. A fictional character never escapes the pages of a book to “find himself”; apart from the Author, there is no “himself” to look for. Perhaps this is something of what it means to be made in the image of God.
By the way, it seems a profound observance in your paragraph examining the evil leaders versus the saints. I’ve never seen it like that before. That one’s going to keep me thinking.
Just so I don't take all the credit for the statement about the contrast of evil leaders of history and the saints, C.S. Lewis said it long before I did. That was merely a regurgitation of something he said much more gracefully (the man was a genius)!!
Very good of you to be so honest, but the funny thing is that he technically didn’t come up with it either. As scripture says, “The thing that has been--it is what will be again, and that which has been done is that which will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun.” –Ecclesiastes 1:9.
Apparently none of us have anything “original” to contribute; I suppose we can add that to our analysis of identity. In fact, I think I’ll use that for the next lecture I give in favor of self esteem: “You’re nothing special! You’re just like everyone else! You have nothing new to contribute that the world has not already seen!!!!!!!”…do you think it will sell???
Ok, maybe I’m not cut out for “self help motivational speaking”; I’ll have to seek another profession, darn it!
I don't really have a whole lot to add because you covered all your bases here. Really well, actually. It's really interesting for me to see this side of you. Definitely not something we get into while playing Catchphrase ;) Although, that might be an extremely interesting game!
Ya, I don't tend to let all my secrets out in person!! (ahem.. no comment!) Thanks for dropping by!!
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