The armour of identity

I have my doubts that any of us truly 'see' who we really are. Most of us struggle with our sense of identity, our sense of being & try desperately to create some fabricated view of ourselves, part truth, part illusion. We wear this man made identity like a suit of armour, trying to protect the fragile heart just behind the facade.

But if we could really see ourselves, we'd likely learn two things:

One, we would learn of our insignificance, that we are but dust. That on the cosmic scale our lives are just a hiccup against the vast melody of time & history. We exist for a moment & then vanish like the morning mist. No matter how much greatness, wealth, fame, popularity, power, all the things the world chases after, that we achieve, we will still be forgotten in the pages of history & our life will be forgotten. If we're lucky, we'll leave ripples - subtle effects on other's lives - & we need to pay attention to the ripples & what causes them, but at the end of the day, that's about it. We are stones cast into the endless ocean of time....

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly (especially in light of our insignificance), is that we would learn just how incredibly significant we are because we are infinitely loved. Most of us exist with no idea of the depth from which we are loved. The heart of God is an eternal wellspring whose depths are unfathomable, deeper than any of us could ever know or explore. And it is this wellspring from which love flows from Him to us, from Him to others to us. Somewhere in creation we are made unique, single, one of a kind masterpieces that will never be copied and in this, there is a part of our Creator's heart that is uniquely knitted to each of us. Each of us in uniquely & infinitely treasured by Him & sometimes, if we're lucky, He lets us really see another person & see the true shining brilliance of who they really are, washed clean & spotless in His love.....

.... and it is these two things that balance us out. One or the other alone perhaps would leave us skewed as people. The sense of finiteness brings us humility. The sense of being infinitely loved brings us wholeness. Knowing that we are infinitely loved sets us free from all of our striving to 'be', striving to earn an identity, to earn love from someone. At the core of our hearts, we are all children looking for someone to notice us, to 'see' us, to embrace us in our best & our worst. And it is that sense of being infinitely loved that satisfies that longing in our souls, that tells us our lives are noticed, that our unique quirky selves are loved not for what we do, but for who we are. This gives our hearts a new armour - we can throw away the patchwork armour of our deeds & accomplishments & leave our hearts completely open & unguarded, naked & without shame, to the world around us. We can do this only because our hearts are now clothed in light, wrapped in a reality that we are loved regardless of the opinions of others. It is from this new center, the recognition of how deeply we are loved, that we become free to truly live & to live a life abundant because we start to live out of who we really are instead of living out of who we think others want us to be....