Mistaken Identity

Have you ever had someone come up and start to speak, only to say “Oh, I thought you were somebody else”? It does happen, we have all done it. You thought you recognized the person until they turned or until you got close and it became clear that it wasn’t who you thought it was. When I have done that, I felt a bit silly, a bit uncomfortable, maybe even a bit embarrassed. I have learned to make a brief conversation out of it with the have a little laugh and move on. I have even met a few nice people along the way, a nice surprise. Sadly, there is no small number of people who feel ashamed and become angry at themselves for making that mistake…….or any mistake come to think of it. The worst mistaken identity is how we see ourselves. When we feel ashamed, we mistake ourselves for someone who is perfect. When we let the world we live in identify us, we go along with it. What we achieve, what we have, even how nice and kind we are, these are all mistaken identities. Yes, even the nice and kind identity can be a mistaken identity on our parts. If we are nice or kind or even worship God because that is what we are supposed to do, we are mistaking our ego’s identity of us for our true selves. In the Gospel of John, Jesus explains to us what our true identity is supposed to be. In the 17th chapter, Jesus speaks to the Father and describes what it is to be one with the Father. He also says that we can be the same, one with the Creator of all. Is that not heaven? To be one with our Creator? And yet, in these verses, most of us do not find ourselves or even consider the possibility that this could be our relationship to God. Most often, we do not believe we deserve such a relationship and that is because the Church has not taught us that this relationship is why we are created. I think I will stop this mistaken identity problem. I am going to resolve to let the Creator define me. I am going to believe that Jesus meant what he said when he described a life in which I am one with God. It is easier than you think, Jesus is that life that let God provide the identity. This is what Jesus meant when he said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life…”. We can be what Jesus was, he taught us that. We have to quit mistaking the world’s or the Church’s definition of us and use the one He gave us. Be who you are in God, let God identify you. TMM