Who are you?

     There have been times when I have been talking to people and they find out I know someone they happen to know. When they ask me questions like: Where do they work? or Where are they from? or How many kids do they have? I often don't know. I have felt awkward about it when they may be people I see at least weekly at church or maybe more often. On further thought, I don't feel so bad. It's not as important whether you are a doctor, electrician, fulltime parent, or teacher as it is that you are trustworthy, dependable, honest and hardworking in your chosen field. It's not as important where you were born as the character you have chosen to be. It's not as important how many children, or even if you have children, as it is how you treat children.
     When we leave this life, or even earlier, when our kids are grown and gone or we are retired or we have lived in 10 places since the place of our birth, what remains will be our character. You are not defined by your occupation, that is just the way you have earned money to provide necessities and some level of luxuries. You are not defined by how many children you have had, adopted, natural birth or c-section or even if you have had any at all. You show what you are by whether you are irritated by, ignore, or treat with respect those who happen to start their earth life later than you did. You are not defined by the happenstance of the location of your birth. I did not choose to be born in the United States in a loving family but I sure am grateful that I was! There are millions who are born in places and under circumstances that may have been extremely difficult for them to survive, much less progress. Being born with the advantages I have had does not justify disdain for those less privileged. Being born without advantages does not justify hating those who happened to be born royalty or wealthy. You are not defined by whatever God-given talents you possess. Someone who plays the piano by ear is not in any way a superior person to someone who struggles for years practicing and taking lessons. Someone who is a good public speaker is not superior to someone who is painfully shy and stammers. You are not defined by your ancestry. If you had a horse thief, murderer, nun, alcoholic, king, or farmer in your family it doesn't pre-determine who you choose to be. You are not defined by your appearance. Besides being totally subjective (my body shape was much more attractive during the Renaissance than during the 1970's or even today), your appearance may influence how you are treated but not how you treat others. There are beautiful people who are whited sepulchres- lovely on the outside but full of rotten stuff: jealousy, greed, lust, sloth, hatred, etc. On the other hand, there are people who have deformities, are "too short" or "too tall" or "too fat" or "too skinny" but are really delightful to be around. We mortal creatures place WAAAAYY too much stock in what's on the outside. We do judge books by their covers. We could improve social relations by encouraging each other to develop who we are inside and not be so quick to categorize others in ways we don't like to be categorized.