I was sitting at my desk doing calculus problems, and out of the blue, i was suddenly just overwhelmed with horror at the realization that we somehow hold the power to control our own nature.
Some would say that we can't change who we are. But I must believe that we can, if I plan to accept free will as a human possibility.
we can change who we are.
and in fact we do. every conscious decision that a person makes, reshapes him into someone else.
that's terrifying...
What I find to be possibly even more disturbing is this... if who we are, is such a fragile thing that it can be radically altered so easily by a careless decision, then is who we are really anything at all?
As Batman would put it, "It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me."
At the time, I was far too caught up in the epic-ness of Batman to realize the sobering truth behind this statement. It seems that as humans, (and Batman) our will is most truly the only thing that does define us.
Suddenly the awareness of my own lack of will-power crashes down on me with the force of a thousand snooze buttons being hit all at once...
dang...
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3 comments:
The hard and interesting thing to me is to comprehend that there are so many parts of us, some of them alterable, others not. For instance, our personalities (though somewhat changeable) are, for the most part) completely stable and immovable.
Our moods would seem to be part of us as well, for when you think of one person, you think "Oh, she's always smiling! She's such a happy soul!" or "Ugh. He is so GOTH. I mean, he's always angry." We fix peoples general moods with "who" they are, and yet a mood can change completely with the drop of a pin. Hormones and other chemicals seem like such trivial things when it comes to discussions about the nature of beings, and yet they "change" us, if one considers a mood to be a person.
And what about people with multiple personalities? I mean, what the heck? If that's so, could THAT person change his own self so that only one personality remained? Or who are we to say that it's not "who" he is to be more than one person? But is a personality a person, or is it just more chemicals? Or is it a mood?
Yeah... thought I'd... just... (fades out)...
I'm just sayin'...?
Typically, I lean more toward the Predestination viewpoints, but on this position I entirely concur. If each individual has a personality out of which they take action, think trough, indulge, weigh penalties, etc…then are they not deciding to act? Our character is open, not determined. God made us like him. He is transcendent over his creation. We are transcendent over our situation and are free to act however to it. Personality is the leading part of our personhood. Since our personality is made in the image of God’s personality, then we will never feel at home in our characters if they do not match up. While we do hold the power to change our personality, and that power is terrifying….at least we are not groping around in the dark for guidance as how to act. Does that mean, in a perfect world we all have the same personality?
Hmmm. Good point. In a perfect world... our world will be burned up and we'll be in heaven, yes? In which case (though no one knows precisely what heaven is like) we know that we are all going to be more wholly ourselves than we knew was possible, while at the same time being as one mind with Christ.
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