Narrative & Identity

Of all the important questions of our time… questions about ecology and consumption, the focus on human distinctives vs. shared attributes, questions about the effects of technology and progress on this world… two important questions few people asking are, 1) what is a human? And 2) what is our name? 

Can we know what a human is amidst the complexity and variety of personality and orientation? If we know what a human is, shouldn’t that determine the orientation of our shared goals and imaginations? Is there a shared story of reality that explains the state of the world as we know it? If we obtain identity from narrative is there a name that could unite all, while still embracing the breadth of individual creativity and uniqueness? Is there a name that connects with a way of making sense of both the world and ourselves, unveiling our purpose and meaning that could lead to a movement of healing, all without the fear of unleashing a colonial power or fueling a violent empire as a result? 

What we do know is that the ways humans have been atomized and diminished throughout the journey of the western world,  a path toward secularity and efficiency, has not produced structures of meaning and value. We have produced ways of more effectively categorizing and controlling each other through observation and organization. And the question of ‘why’ is more frightening than we want consider.

This is the result, if we interact with the powerful systems and institutions of this world, we will be abstracted and categorized into a spreadsheet label somewhere based on our utility to these systems. We will be named. But there is something deep inside of us that cries out against their names, something mysterious and profound that resists simplification. We know our name is not just consumer, audience member, employee, fan, social security number, IP address, voter, credit score, viewer, or statistic. We have a face and a story, unique experiences of the world, secrets, memories of bliss, sorrow, and love. How can you name the enigma that is a human?

So we fight back and try to find our true selves amidst the pressure of these names. We struggle with mirrors that allow us to see ourselves clearly and point out our distinctives and our uniqueness amidst exploitation. In our isolation and rejection of these systems we find the humans that share in our search and join their team, their group, and we take on their identity. We find security in their story and a meaning that gives us purpose to live each day. But in the end we are still left unsettled, and may even find we are further categorized and rejected by the group we longed to belong to.

But according to the Jewish scriptures there is an original Creator who has the capability to create vast systems and organisms but who did not allow the unique identity of each of his creations to be diminished or exploited. This creator of all life was able to create the human body and the brain, yet imagine the incalculable complexity of the families and societies of the future and in his expressive intention called the name of humanity eikon (Hebrew - elil). Our name is IMAGE. We are those who were born in the breath of the cosmic creator, a great father, who leaned down to the womb of earth and shaped clay into a body with a mind, heart, and hands that somehow mirrored the capabilities of his. He placed us in a garden and welcomed us to share in his rule with him, watching and trusting him as we learn to help creation flourish. He gave us a home in his home, a garden, and welcomed us on a mission of cultivation by which we would reflect his creational imagination, not to extract from it at its detriment, but to create a flourishing system of physical and spiritual abundance.

Though the calling of humanity was twisted by their rebellion, it was not broken.  In the book of Genesis, in the Jewish Torah, we see that though human work became warped as ancient humans began to grasp for something to image, so they worshipped the powers of creation and the images formed by the hands of men in order to become prosperous. They destroyed themselves in tribal violence yet God saved humanity through the family of Noah. Man rejected God again and the Creator responded by calling the name of Abraham. Israel was to be a family that resisted the exploiting identities the empires forced upon them and lived into their calling to reflect God’s light to humanity. But instead they were lost to feelings of inferiority and scarcity, instead of living in to the promises of God they lusted after the prosperity of their neighboring empires. They became defined by the narratives of these empires which held a vision of gods that they could control. After a succession of failed monarchies and a split of the kingdom, Israel went into exile. The sensuality and power of the successive ancient Assyria, Canaan, and Babylon conquerors, inseparable systems of the state, the military, and the temple, quickly captured the imaginations of the displaced redeemers. Their religions were complex and age old systems of cosmic legends and ritual, an orientation that animated the universe around them and allowed them autonomy and supremacy from YHWH. Though seemly offering freedom they  were now in bondage to their own creations, they began to image their own images and those in power took the authority to name the populace in order to position themselves as superior.

The same urge to image something is still deep within our mimetic responses when we watch a movie, become drawn into a sappy and idealized bit of advertising, or admire someone with style. Where are we pointing our mirror? To image is to be named. In our increasingly technological societies we are constantly being named by the systems and powers of this world in ways that use and exploit us, imprinting their names - imprinting their images - on our identities. We are fragmented and reduced to our value to these systems, often submitting to these names (brands, titles, roles, etc) and displaying these images (logos, flags, memes, etc). We embrace them for security and belonging, not knowing their depth and power are leading to our peril. How do we restore our identity and find a path forward in healing and purpose grounded in what the Creator says about us? 

What the Creator says about humans is vastly greater and higher than we say of ourselves. We are Holy, unique, reflections of himself, ambassadors, a family of reconciliation, no longer ruled by sin or death, sons and daughters of God. We have a FATHER who never leaves us and who unites us with other humans. This family of reconciled humans, these EIKONS, are now filled with the empowering Spirit of God and free to be humble rulers and kings of creation, with the task of healing space in this world and thus allowing people, creatures, and places to find restoration to God.

But this does not happen in a rebellious spirit of conquest or domination, it happens the same way that Jesus brought his Kingdom and was crowned King, the way of sacrificial love. Not to dominate or coerce, but to bless. Jesus was a lion because he was a lamb. His way was victorious because he exercised his power over the urge to win the fight by the ways of the world, the way of violence. His defeat at the hands of the system of military, government, commerce, and religion broke the powers of supremacy, separation, and autonomy. It was not to possess the Kingdoms of the world, but to create a healing resistance within those kingdoms that often suffers because of its witness to the true king.

It is in this spirit of love, security, and creativity that the sons and daughters of God enter into their place as makers and creators, responding to the story of God, working in response to its structure, and driven forward in its hope. But this is not a path of religion as we know it, it is not the path to certitude, it is a path into the unknown, into ambiguity and mystery. It is the path of all true creativity and discovery. It is a walk of faith. 

As we are named by our creator, begin to witness to his Kingdom, and submit ourselves to the way of the Kingdom of God, we will begin to strip away the sources of rival liturgies, of contrary symbols, and images that inspire allegiance to rival kingdoms. We will meditate on the Creators words and let the stories of Scripture orient our actions in the world, so that we transcend the names and habits that determine our days and begin to live into the disruptive yet healing creative force that the Spirit of the Creator is beckoning us to be.

This work of creation in our memories and imaginations completely redeems the results of our rebellion, the vestiges of fear and shame, it draws into the light of truth, yet beckons us to the darkness of the world, not to exploit but to befriend, to serve, to restore. Work on our interior births new work on our exterior, and in an ever uplifting spiral of healing and making, the community of the Creator finds itself fixing and nurturing the spaces around it all while suffering for this truth. Our vision is clear, now let us do the work to restore our imaginations so that we can continue the story.