Hello, dear one!
When you’re with people, including your immediate family, have you ever wondered if you all are shaping each other’s characters and playing assigned social roles?
Then, representing the image of God, who are you in the “I AM”?
For many years, I intentionally attended church services to seek God, but my aha moment came one day when I heard a parable on a podcast. This also led me to the revelation of the word, Christ.
Once upon a time, a young man in India refused to accept everyone’s God and wanted to meet God himself. He traveled the North, South, East, and West of his country.
Finally, on his treacherous God-seeking journey, he met a wise man who told him God’s address at a secret mountain.
Elated, the young man arrived at the foot of a steep mountain. After seven days, he finally reached the top of the mountain and saw a monk praying in front of the temple.
The young man asked the monk, “Would you please tell me if God is here.”
“Yes,” The monk calmly instructed, “Go in. You’ll see a sanctuary, and God is there.”
As soon as the young man entered the sanctuary, he saw a golden book resting on a shelf, glittering and glowing in the semi-darkened room.
The young man’s heart leaped out of his body when he touched the book, but as soon as he opened it, he froze in silence.
There was a mirror engraved in this book, and he saw himself. He sought everywhere for God, but God was in him all along. He represented a piece of God!
This was my self-resurrection moment.
I began to see God in all people and all things. I became aware of how powerful “I AM” was. If I don’t like something about myself, it’s just a mask I’m wearing or a role I’m playing, I can recreate a new one, like this French writer.
In 1831, a young woman named Aurore Dupin Dudevant came to Paris with a dream of becoming a successful writer.
Soon she discovered the harsh reality of money. For a woman at that time, steady income could only come from marriage or prostitution. Women wrote only as a hobby, provided by their husbands.
When she submitted her writings to an editor, the man told her, “You should make babies, not literature.”
Infuriated, Dudevant decided to decline roles assigned by society and create a new role to express her gift of writing.
She would play the part of a man, and she succeeded!
Only a year later in 1832, she submitted and published her novel, Indiana, under the pseudonym, “George Sand.” As Dudevant impressed Paris with her writing, she dared Paris with more games.
Assuming herself in public as “George Sand,” she wore men’s shirts and riding pants. To add more pizzazz, she wore men’s long coats, black hats, and heavy boots.
The more Paris was fascinated with this “male/female” writer, the more money flew in. Famous musicians like Chopin would fall at her feet. She drank and smoked with men, wooed them, and abandoned them at her discretion.
Even though the public felt the presence of a man when they were with Dudevant, deep inside, she cherished her femininity. She understood that life was a stage.
Society demanded that she played limited roles and adapted to their needs, which would only weaken her power. So she called her shots and created a new identity, the new “I AM.”
Why am I leading you with the God parable and the story of Dudevant?
For years, I associated the word “Christ” with Jesus only and regarded churches are places to connect with God.
The word “Christ” means the ideal humanity, the higher being of oneself.
Each of us carries a Christ inside; we’re all essentially the expression of God. God is in me, and God is in you, regardless of your religious beliefs.
By the way, religion is to bind, to detain, and to fear. All religions, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism are set of human beliefs. A belief is a thought, and if you’re not feeling free being yourself, is it time for a new thought like this one?
In an interview with Bill Moyer On November 21, 1973, American poet Maya Angelo defined freedom that inspired the world,
“You only are free when you realize you belong no place…Being free is being able to accept people for what they are, and not try to understand all they are or be what they are…”
The more you’re aware of your chosen and assigned roles, the more you’ll accept others for their roles and actions. The more you accept others, the freer you’ll become. When you’re free being you, no one will ever have the power to coerce you into anything.
If you want to best express the Christ in you, what are your “I AMs”?