Knowing- Possessing knowledge, information, or understanding
Yourself- your normal or usual self
Aristotle once said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” So what does it take to know your self? The definition above hints that it is an understanding of our “normal’, or “usual”, self. As I thought on this, I became stumped with what your “normal” or “usual” self denotes. I think in order to understand all that that entails; there are three areas of “self” we must explore:
Knowing the truth about…
- Who we were
- Who we are now, and
- Who we are to become.
1. Who we were.
“Nothing comes from nothing,” is a famous line from a song, in the movie The Sound of Music, which points out something important. If nothing comes from nothing, than we, ourselves, did not come from nothing either. Think about the scientific law that matter cannot be created nor destroyed, only organized. We know that our bodies are organized through the act of intimacy, but what about the substance that makes up the inside of us, who we are? If nothing comes from nothing, then even our personalities come from something. As a mother, I have proof that even my tiny child has his own personality, or things about him, that are not taught, even by me. We must have been somewhere, in some sort of state, before we came here. And if that is true, the questions become where were we, and who were we?
In the Bible, in the book of Jeremiah, we read, “Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee…” God knew us before we were born, which tells us that before we were here, we were with God. William Wordsworth, a famous poet and philosopher, wrote this in one of his poems,
“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home.”
Wordsworth believed not only that we were with God, but that when we were born, we forgot these things. He is also one, among many, who believes that the substance, which makes up who we are, is our soul. All these things lead us to the understanding, found in Genesis, that we were, and are, children of God.
Why do we need to know this? What does it help us understand about our selves? Think about a newborn baby. They are so pure when they are born, which gives some important insight. We come here to earth without sin. We are innately good people that are here to have an experience.
Also, tradition tells us that all children receive some sort of inheritance from their parents. Similarly, we have an inheritance from God that we have the chance to claim. The Bible, in the book of Romans, says, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs of Christ…” We are heirs to things that God has for us. Understanding that we are God’s children helps us see our potential.
2. Who we are now
The definition above advises us to know our “normal” or “usual” selves. Part of knowing our normal selves is knowing ourselves both spiritually and in the flesh. Upon coming here to earth from our home in heaven, our souls took on a body of flesh. Thus, began the battle between spirit, and the flesh. Again in Romans we read, “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” We are here with the opportunity to prove ourselves worthy of God’s inheritance. However, like Wordsworth says, we have forgotten whom we truly are, and are now tempted after the manner of the flesh. As we choose to forsake the flesh and allow it to become one with our Souls, with our true selves, we have the chance to become heirs to God.
One may wonder as I have, why we need to go through this process, why are we trying to BECOME who we truly ARE in the first place? I had that question, and after much reflection, study, and discussion I was led to one possible answer. We were good, because that was just who we were, and not because we CHOSE to be that way. We had to have the opportunity to CHOOSE to be good. If we were to have no choice or reason, we would be like animals merely acting on instinct and survival. God will force no man to heaven.
In order to become one with our soul and choose to be good, perhaps we need to take the time to know WHAT it is that we need to forsake. We have to know our weaknesses, and temptations, so that we can take the steps necessary to overcome them. We live in a world that wants us to hide our sins, even from our selves. We hear things like, “that is just who you are,” or “accept yourself for who you are.” I wonder if we have a tendency to blindly look away from things that are in need of change, because “THAT IS JUST WHO I AM.” I wonder if we underestimate the value of this process, and miss out on the wonderful progression of change by ignoring our sins. I also wonder if we blindly pass on our own personal weaknesses to our children because we have not taken the time to examine ourselves in depth enough to see them? I don’t know the answer to that, but thought provoking isn’t it? Please understand, that I am not suggesting that we have to tell everyone around us the things we are doing wrong, our sins are private matters. However, we need to not ignore them; by doing that, we risk never becoming who we really are.
I need to also add that along with knowing our weaknesses, we have to know what is GOOD in our souls too, build upon those strengths, and gain more strength. We have learned, since childhood that choosing to do bad things is a sin, but so is NOT choosing to do good things when we know we should. “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin,” we learn from the Bible, in the book of James. We are not meant to rid ourselves of sin, and then do nothing. Think about the traditional accomplished lady, she tried to continue to build upon her good attributes as she read, served, and explored all her potential. So we must build upon our attributes and DO good, so that we can learn from those experiences.
When we know where we were, and why we are here, we can clearly make choices with knowledge and purpose. We can then choose to allow our spirit to run our lives instead of the flesh. We can look at our weaknesses, and, with help from Jesus Christ, overcome them one step at a time. We can discover the strengths within our selves, and use them to build those around us. We can move toward our potential one step at a time.
3. Who we are to become
Jesus Christ commands us to, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.” We are meant to become as our Father in Heaven. However, we are incapable of doing it alone, and He knew that. That is why Jesus Christ suffered for the sins of the world, to make it possible to become as He is.
Though knowing who we were, who we are now, and who we are to become is only the start of knowing ourselves, it is a good one. I believe accomplished ladies know who they are, and continue to develop themselves. We live in a world today that wants to confuse us on this subject. People are placed into categories and defined by stereotypes that confuse the divine identity to which all men belong. “You are fat,” “You are an alcoholic,” “You are funny,” “You are rich,” “You are gay,” the world says. Though we may struggle with food, or alcohol, and may be able to tell a really good joke, is that WHO WE ARE? Though we may become our choices, is that really at the heart of the soul inside of us? We know what the Bible says, and yet it is true that there are lots of circumstances to consider. Only God can judge man, but thought provoking isn’t it?
Brigham Young, a Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said this, “No being can thoroughly know himself, without understanding more or less of the things of God; neither can a being learn and understand the things of God, without knowing himself; he must know himself, or he never can know God.” Ladies, NOW is the time to begin to know ourselves. As we do, we can know our children better, and know God better. We can perhaps foresee potential problems we may run into, or potential ways we can lift someone as we know our weaknesses and our strengths. We must realize that we are children of God, who once lived with Him, and who are here to CHOOSE our inheritance.
There is an old Hindu legend that tells us that all men were Gods. But unfortunately, they very badly misused their Divinity. That's why Brahma, the Upper-God, decided to terminate their Divinity and to hide it in a place not to be found. The problem was to choose a suitable place. When the Half-Gods gathered to solve this problem, they proposed: 'Let us bury the Divinity of man in the Earth '
But Brahma answered: 'No, this won't be sufficient because mankind will dig deep and discover this Divinity anew'. The Half-Gods than found another place. 'Let's sink the Divinity into the deepest ocean on Earth'. But Brahma also held back on this idea and responded: 'No, because sooner or later, mankind will dive into the deepest places in all the oceans and will certainly find the Divinity'. The Half-Gods didn't have any further clue how to solve this problem. They exclaimed: 'There's nowhere on Earth a place this Divinity can be successfully hidden, as man will climb the mountains, dig into the ground and dive deep in the oceans. There is no place where humankind's curiosity will not search'. And Brahma answered: 'This is what we'll do: we will hide it in the deepest part of man himself, because this is the only place where man will never look'. Since then, humankind has criss-crossed the Earth, dived, dug and explored every inch, searching for something that can only be found deep in himself.
Remember the definition above which said that knowing ourselves, was understanding our normal and usual selves. May we look inside ourselves and find the divine within, so that we can make our contribution, and earn our inheritance one simple way at a time.
Yours truly,
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