"Mythical Me" - Book Reflections 4
by Thomas B. Grosh IV, CMDA Northeast Regional Director
This is the one true God: Father, Son, and Spirit, who lift us into the circle of life and love. - 47.
We are not what we do, we are not what we have, we are not what others think of us. Coming home is claiming the truth. I am the beloved child of a loving creator. - Henri Nouwen, quoted on page 50.
In my third reflection on Richella A. Parham’s Mythical Me: Finding Freedom from Constant Comparison (InterVarsity Press, 2019), I introduced Part 2: The Promise: The Corrected Vision (Chapters 4-6). In doing such I mentioned that it offered particularly helpful insights for correcting vision to followers of Christ taking next steps after a difficult year.
By God’s grace on Monday, the Christian Medical Society (CMS) / CMDA at Penn State Hershey College, focused on getting to know one-another through sharing our faith journeys. Given below are several prompts offered by the chapter president. I encourage you to take a few minutes to prayerfully respond to one or more of them AND invite others in your community of faith to do likewise.
What was a turning point in your life?
How has your understanding of God changed over time?
How has your relationship with God been challenged?
Peaks and valleys
What is the Gospel (or Good News) to you?
Why did you decide to follow Jesus (if you did)?
What about the Gospel blows your mind?
When I offered my “testimony,” I focused on how as a youth I sought recognition for my accomplishments and the insights / skills which I brought “to the table.” I thought I was born “to solve” difficult “cases.” But in college the Lord revealed to me that the deep, deep (and continually present) love of the good Creator God found in the Bible alone brought wholeness. My purpose in life on this earth stems from the daily call of being a child of God created to extend the healing love of God to a broken world. The Biblical story reveals that Jesus is the Savior, not me.
There are no words to describe the joy of the realization that my identity is not tied to my achievements — whether recognized by me and / or others. Furthermore, the all consuming, powerful, and just God of all creation does not have a scarcity of love. Through the creation, journey with a people all to often seeking their own way, the incarnation, the cross, the resurrection, the ascension, and visions of the new heaven and new earth, we see the sacrificial love of God extending across time and space — overturning the impact of the fall, sin, and the powers of the evil one as evidenced in this world.
May we not lose sight of a proper understanding of God, self, and others. May we find daily / weekly renewal through the Word, prayer, community, and the teaching of the Church. May we love God with head, heart, and hands. May this love extend to love of our neighbor. Come, Lord Jesus! Come!
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance[a] upon you and give you peace. - Numbers 6:24-26 (ESV)
Stay tuned for Part 3: The Path: Learning to Walk in the Light (Chapters 7-10) of Mythical Me.
