Yesterday was my last day as a member
of the Council of Elders at my home church – a role important to me that I had contributed
for 16 years off and on. Today was my last day at Linley Welwood law firm. I
left the premises I had practiced law from for 30 years in various firm
iterations. There was a fair amount of dust on some of the things I packed up.
So, it is a good evening to reflect
once again about this thing called identity.
WHAT IS IDENTITY ?
In the social sciences, the term identity refers to a
group’s or individual’s sense of who they are.
The idea of social identity is people’s labelling of
themselves as members of certain groups such as nation, social class,
subculture, ethnicity, gender and even employment.
In this decade, there is a strong emphasis in the society around
me on gender, sexual preferences and race as defining personal identity.
In my generation, retirement or job loss is reported by many
to leave them with a sense of loss of identity and worth. I don’t think that
will happen to me. For one thing, I am not ceasing to practice as a lawyer nor
to serve on Christian charity boards. But even apart from that, I view identity
not merely my sense of who I am, but something beyond my own sense of self. In
my worldview, my identity is determined by my Creator and does not change with my
marital status, employment status, or sexuality. I once was single, but then I
married and also became - took on the role of - a father and a lawyer – in that order. Those are things
ABOUT me, but they are not me.
I am not what I do.
I am not what I have.
I am not what people say about me.
I am a beloved child of God, made in his image.
It’s who I am – my identity
- and no person or circumstance or thing
can take it from me.
