WHO ARE YOU

WHO ARE YOU?

Brent Anderson

Ask this interesting little question of a friend, and they invariably stammer and seem lost for an answer. They state their name as if that defines who they are and look at you askance wondering at your state of mind, for surely you know who they are. With continued pressure and some thought, some will state that they are the children of their parents, or some other features that define their life style (i.e. Doctor, Dentist, etc). None of these replies in any way defines who they are any more than a name does. The truth is that this simple question plumbs the very depths of Mankind's existence, as well as the spiritual foundations of this universe. It is not an easy question to answer. Still, it is a question that one would presume that men or women would consider rather often; so let us explore what makes a human irrevocably an indivisible individual.

The body of the average human is a wonder that surpasses our current knowledge and understanding at the most basic level. A good definition might be that it is a self learning and replicating biological computer, with a huge amount of firmware that is active on a cellular level to which the individual has no access at a conscious level. The genetic code (firmware) that is contained in just one of our microscopic cells is sufficient to produce a human with countless cells, but importantly, that same genetic code determines many of the intellectual and physical talents and abilities that help define the individual. A man or woman receives their genes from their parents with half coming from each parent; the parents received their genetic heritage from their parents, and so forth for hundreds of millions of years. The programming within our cells has but one purpose, and that is survival and replication. The "Law of Nature" survival of the fittest is played out on many different levels from cellular to complete organisms, and the stakes are always the same, survival or not. If an animal or plant dies without progeny, then the complex genetic materials that defined it are lost, except for that part which may be carried by siblings. This occurs every minute of every day in this world, and it is nature's way of eliminating weak (for current conditions) individuals and the genes, which caused that weakness. The weakness thus eliminated may under different circumstances have been strength, but the Eco-system is always changing, and only those traits that provide advantage in the present will prevail in the present. We may say that an individual is a survivor of the present conditions we find in the environment. (That does not mean that any particular man would survive a mutated viral or bacterial infection tomorrow in which his or her genes could be selected out by the new condition in the environment.) This then describes the natural man or woman who is a product and part of the natural world. Each of us has built into us the will and the desire to survive and procreate. Additionally, we each have built into us those genetic traits that allow for greater or lesser intellectual and physical abilities (i.e. Intelligence, Beauty, Strength, and Resistance to disease, etc.). But we must not forget that those attributes are strictly born of the shuffle of genes that combine to form a fertilized egg.

There is also another aspect to man that is of far greater importance in defining who we are. The spiritual nature of man is much debated within our cultures, and there is a substantial portion of any given population of men and women who believe that it is, at best, a pleasant myth which was born of the need for a few to control the many. Yet, if we examine the effect of the various spiritual laws that have been promulgated, we see in general that they are beneficial to the society as a whole as well as the individual. That is not to say that there are some creeds that espouse tenants that yield the opposite, but in general it is true. If we examine the second law of Christianity, that we love each other, we find that the concept is not foreign to non-Christian groups. Yet it requires that the individual do something that his natural body at a genetic level abhors, and that is to place the survival of others on the same plane of importance as the individuals survival. Without this law or concept there would be no civilization, as we know it, the world would be populated by small bands of men and women who would live by the natural law. They would, as a matter of course, fight to protect a territory from all others, and kill others that intruded without compunction.

The new law requires mankind to love the Father (God and creator of this Earth) without reservation, and to love our fellow man or woman in the same way. While some dispute the existence of our Father, most will acknowledge his existence. Nevertheless we all are his children, both spiritually and physically, whether we accept him or not. It seems obvious to most that identical twins that have identical bodies, and were reared in the same family with nearly identical environment, are two separate individuals. The difference between them is that they have separate spirits. The spirits are children of our Father and they bring with them their own personalities (which in twins can be quite dissimilar). In fact individuals, who are committed to following the concept of loving others, are shaped more by their spiritual personalities than by the physical body. The reverse is true in the first years of life but with learning and experience even some of the most recalcitrant teens will eventually overcome the purely physical urges of their genes and hormones. The primal directive to survive at all costs is not easily overcome, and so it was said that no greater love has any man or woman than that they willingly give their life for their fellow man or woman.

We do not live in a black and white world, and while some are totally committed to doing good, and others are totally committed to evil, with the vast majority spread out in between in a classic probability bell curve. Above all else, each of us is responsible for our own actions and decisions. Those can't be the responsibility of parents, associates, or the rest of the world. This concept is directly opposite that which is promulgated by some in our culture, in which even the most heinous crimes of individuals are excused because society, parents, schools, etc. failed them in some way.

So who are you? You are a son or daughter of the Father who is God. This is the first and most important part of the physical body, which is you. Secondly you are a part of this Earth in the most fundamental way possible in that you share genetic heritage with every living thing on this planet. You are a part of the ecosystem of this Earth not an intruder. The person you are now is a melding of your physical heritage, your spiritual heritage and the experiences of life. You are the builder or the destroyer of yourself. Will you build yourself by loving your fellow man and all life? Or will you follow the path of survival of the fittest to its eventual conclusion when you meet the inevitable in a match with someone younger and more fit at the moment in time than you?