TO BE OURSELVES

                      

Yes, that’s right. We need God to be ourselves. We need Him to understand ourselves as beings in the world. Without God, at the base of our thinking, we are an undefined being. We do not know our origin and the fate that awaits us after death. Death itself is a mystery to us. Why are we born to die? What is the meaning of life? What is the purpose of existence? What is man? It is true that people, immersed in the hustle and bustle of life, do not think about these things. But, in moments of self-reflection, they do think. Scholars also think, reflect, and research these issues.

The important mathematician, philosopher, and Christian theologian Blaise Pascal was one of those scholars who devoted themselves to this subject. He wrote, in his work Thoughts: "When I think of the short duration of my life, absorbed in the eternity preceding and the following and the small space I occupy, merged in the immensity of the spaces that I do not know and that ignore me, I am astonished and I am amazed... Who put me here? By whose order and work this place and this moment were destined for me?... The eternal silence of these infinite spaces terrifies me" [1].

These words of this French thinker show, very well, that the human being is a mystery to himself. But the sacred Scriptures reveal that man was originally created by God, perfect. At first, before the fall, he was righteous, holy and endowed with knowledge about himself, the world and God. After the original sin, he lost it all. Man is no longer fair, that is, no longer lives according to the will of his Creator. It is no longer holy, that is, it is no longer separated, among the other living beings, for life with God. Because he was no longer fair, he lost holiness and plunged into debauchery and barbarism.

Man was, still, before the first sin, endowed with eternal life and freedom. These aspects of human beings can be observed in the divine order that says: "do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat of it, you will surely die" (Genesis 2:17). Note that he would only die if he ate from the tree, thus he was endowed with eternal life. Since he ate the forbidden fruit, even with God recommending not to eat it, it is concluded that he was free to make choices.

These aspects of the original man's being are the targets of Christ's redemptive work, the goal of which is to restore sinful man to his initial condition. For this reason, the Apostle Paul, writing to the Christians of Ephesus, recommends that they “put the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). Also, this same Apostle, writing to the Colossians, recommends that they abandon the old man “and put the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:10).

The human being, then, in his early life, was just, holy, endowed with knowledge, eternal and free. But he lost that state of perfection by disobeying his Creator and became the being he is today. The Apostle Paul said that men are “slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents…” (Romans 1:30).

It is evident, therefore, that man has lost himself by turning away from God. The important African theologian and Bishop of Hippo, Augustine (334 - 430 AD), in his work "Confessions", wrote: "Therefore it is good for me to cling to God, because if I do not abide in him, neither will I be able to continue in myself."[2] These words of this Christian theologian and philosopher show that he understands that we are only ourselves if we are connected with God. And this is the reason for Jesus' work on the cross: to reconnect man with God. That is why He said, "you must be born again" (John 3:7), that is, to be born to God, to be born to spiritual things.

But, besides God, we need our fellow beings to be ourselves. Yes, human beings do not define themselves in solitude. They were created for a life of communion with God and with their fellow beings. Imagine a person who suddenly finds himself alone on planet Earth. She looks everywhere and sees no one. She spends her entire life walking around the planet and does not find any other being that corresponds to her. So, he looks at himself and does not understand the reason for his existence. There is no meaning in life without God and without one's neighbor, because the human being is only defined in the relationship with God and the other.

For this reason, the human being needs the other to be himself and to understand himself as a being in the world. The doctor understands himself as a doctor, in the patient. The teacher perceives himself as a master, in the student. The mother feels like a mother, in the child. We were created, mysteriously, connected to each other. If people die, in a catastrophe, on the other side of the world, we are dismayed. In some way we are connected to them. It is true that, because of sin, people are alienated from each other, but in special moments, this indifference disappears and, yes, we care about others.

Once, they asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was. Then, He replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37). In fact, the analysis of the 'Ten Commandments' (Exodus 20) reveals that they refer only to God and to men.

These words of Jesus constitute a synthesis of the "Ten Commandments", which show that man was created for a life of love for God and for others. However, according to the Apostle Paul, human beings "are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. " (Ephesians 4:18). But those who turn to God and receive Him, in their innermost being, by faith in the Son, Jesus Christ, He grants them "the right to become" His children (John 1:12). These come to enjoy the grace of communion with others and with Him who created them, removing the veil of the mystery of themselves.

Antônio Maia - Ph.B., M. Div.

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[1] PASCAL, Blaise. Pensamentos. São Paulo-SP. Ed Abba Press, 2022, p.67

[2] AGOSTINHO, Aurélio. Confissões. Petrópolis-RJ. Ed. Vozes, 2011, p.154