5-1-23<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am enamored of the hilarious BBC mockumentary series Philomena Cunk<\/em> that has found its way onto American cable outlets and the internet. Comedian Diane Morgan plays a determined blockhead who conducts educational tours and interviews actual experts and professors about history, the arts, and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She is relentlessly clueless, and manages to surprise and confuse her stuffy guests. Normal hosts begin their interviews with respectful introductions or a detailed resume of the person\u2019s credentials, but Philomena routinely demands, \u201cSo, who are you<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t get whiplash, but I will pivot from her silliness to a legitimate thought: When we think about it \u2013 which we often should \u2013 life is always asking us, in effect, \u201cWho are you?\u201d To take stock, and to know where we\u2019re going. We should ask it of ourselves, too. \u201cThe unexamined life,\u201d Socrates said, possibly going overboard, \u201cis not worth living.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then, of course, we must be aware that God is forever asking us, \u201cWho are you?\u201d \u2013 not waiting for Judgment Day. Who are <\/em>you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n We evolve; and we should. It is the essence, after all, of the requirement to be \u201cborn again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who are we? People different than we were yesterday. People whose tomorrows will be different than today. \u201cBetter\u201d? That depends on the definition of \u201cbetter,\u201d and certainly it depends on choices we make, and our determination to draw closer to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The act of \u201cdrawing closer\u201d was given a name in the early church and in church history: to be \u201cImitators of Christ.\u201d It clearly means to walk in the footsteps of Jesus; to apply His teachings and His examples of love, forgiveness, humility, mercy, charity. To be<\/em> Jesus to those who hurt or are lost. A few decades ago it was manifested in the WWJD wristbands \u2013 \u201cWhat would Jesus do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The books of the Gospels and Epistles have numerous adjurations to be like Christ. St Augustine made a brilliant recommendation: Why art thou proud, O man? God for thee became low. Thou wouldst perhaps be ashamed to imitate a lowly man; then at least imitate the lowly God. <\/em>St Francis; St Bernard of Clairvaux; St Thomas Aquinas, all sought ways to be Christ-followers best by \u201cimitating\u201d His ways, not only believing in Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Imitation of Christ<\/em> is a book by Thomas \u00e0 Kempis written in 1418. It can be seen as Christendom\u2019s first devotional manual. With Bunyan\u2019s The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress <\/em>it probably is the most-printed book in the Western world, after the Bible itself. It still is a worthwhile \u201cuser\u2019s manual,\u201d so to speak, for being<\/em> a Christian. It is not a 12-Step program or substitute for Salvation. It helps us be like Christ, subsequent to Salvation. Find it! Many translations and versions exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will discover, when you ask \u201cWho am I?\u201d and determine to \u201cimitate\u201d Christ in every way, that you have great company! Imitation, that is, as a theological practice. We could do worse. The Bible overflows with examples of people who examined their lives\u2026 asked \u201cWho am I, really?\u201d\u2026 and then were changed. Discover \u201cBefore and After\u201d examples of people who can inspire us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n David slew a giant (anthropologists, by the way, have discovered that there were races of giants) but was also the \u201csweet singer of Israel.\u201d He could be such a rotten schemer that he arranged to have his lover\u2019s husband killed\u2026 yet he ultimately was, after forgiveness, the king \u201canointed of God.\u201d The examples are many. We think of Luther, we think of C S Lewis, we think of Billy Graham. We think of so many saints of history who found<\/em> new lives by examining their old lives\u2026 and were transformed from the Old Selves to New Creations in Christ. Imitation may be the best form of theology!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Was there ever a better example of \u201cBefore and After\u201d than Peter? An impulsive fool, sometimes, and one who denied Jesus three times\u2026 but after Pentecost he matured and became what Jesus promised, the leader of the Church.
Saul persecuted believers, even having some put to death. After his own \u201cWho am I?\u201d experience, he became Paul, the first and greatest evangelist; writer of half of the New Testament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n