Discovering Our True Identity

In his book The Principles and Power of Vision, Dr. Myles Munroe narrated a story about the statue of Buddha in Bangkok, Thailand. The statue has religious significance for Thai natives who for many years thought it was entirely made of clay.

At one time, the government moved the statue to another place in order to create space for road construction. While the statue was being lowered with a crane, its outer layer started crumbling, something that frightened Thai natives.

Guess what! As the outer layer continued to crumble, a golden surface began to emerge. It turned out the statue was made of gold. The clay was just an outer layer.

Upon reflecting on the nature of that statue, I have discovered it bears resemblance to my identity. Just like the statue was made of gold, I have had a pure heart. And just like the statue was covered with clay, I was subjected to criticism that made me timid and confused.

It's like people started criticizing me as soon as I was old enough to remember things. An uncle of mine, who used to live with us, was fond of pinching, slapping and rebuking me. One day in the '90s when I did something that displeased him, he told me that I was growing horns on my head.

Then there was this male relative who visited us a few times. I can't recall his name, and I don't think I can recall his face either. All I remember of him is that he was light-skinned and hated me for no apparent reason.

When he visited us in 1997, I joked that he wasn't old; it was just his legs that were long, a witticism I had heard in school. Mamma mia! He didn't take my joke in good humor. I had to flee to escape his wrath.

Then in the year 2000 when he visited us again, he embarrassed me in front of a family member by accusing me of not bathing after he saw black marks on my hands. Later on, I learnt from a schoolmate that the black marks on my hands had been caused by drawing water from a borehole.

Over the years, some other people have treated me even more arrogantly. And their arrogance towards me would have made you think I was a criminal. Yet I have always had a pure heart even though I sometimes lied, overslept and masturbated.

Imagine that even after I stopped lying, oversleeping and masturbating, a valet named Jeremiah, who I have talked about before on this blog, had the temerity to treat me like a criminal.

To recap on my earlier stories, Jeremiah was hired by my brothers to look after our aging Dad. A few weeks into his job, he started speaking insolently to me after he realized I was rather shy and self-conscious.

It all began one day when I took an initiative of putting a bunch of spinach leaves in a fridge-freezer that I hadn't known how it works. Unbeknown to me, the spinach leaves froze so much that they became too hard to cut. I had put them in a freezer.

When Jeremiah found the spinach leaves frozen, he shouted at me disrespectfully. He then complained to Dad that we couldn't eat spinach since I had frozen them. And he complained in such a manner that you'd think I had done something really bad.

After that day, I had a frosty relationship with Jeremiah. We engaged in a cold war which I eventually won given that he left home two months ago. I am now glad that he left.

Jeremiah made my initiative of putting spinach leaves in a fridge-freezer sound like a criminal act. And that's the same way other arrogant people have wanted to portray my behavior, thus making me appear like a criminal.

By treating me like a criminal, those arrogant people almost made me a criminal. But by the grace of God, I have been able to discover my true identity: humble, loving, studious, creative, handsome and enthusiastic.

My beloved reader, if you are timid and confused like I was, some people will draw out, not the best in you but the beast in you. And if you are not careful, you might end up becoming a beast. I therefore urge you to discover your true identity before it's too late. Adieu!

*********************
RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on discovering our true identity, you might also enjoy another one on "Overcoming Timidity" which I wrote several years ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.