Who Am I?

Blessed are the meek,

For they shall inherit the earth.

Happy are those who claim nothing,

for the whole earth will belong to them.

You’re blessed when you are content with just who you are –

no more, no less.  That’s the moment you find yourself

proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

Matthew 5:5

One of the games that I played with my children when they were little was, “Who Am I?”  There would be a set of four clues, each one giving progressively more information about the person being described.  If you guessed the identity after the first clue, you got 20 points.  The second clue netted 15, and on down the line. My kids loved that game.  Whether we were identifying Bible characters, historical characters, friends, or relatives, they were eager to prove that they knew more people than anyone else.

In the third beatitude of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is asking, “Who are you?”  Actually, it is a bit more than that:  He is asking, “Who are you, and do you like who you are?”  Are you content with yourself?   As the mother of three daughters, that question always brings a smile to my face.  As young women in their 20’s, they are rarely satisfied with who they are.  Hair changes colors, clothes are in, then out – new makeup, new exercise routines, a new car, a different apartment.  The list goes on and on.

Jesus wants us to be content with who we are as a child of God. – a blessed creature within the Creator’s universe - sons and daughters of the King.  When we know this with certainty, we are indeed proud owners of everything that can’t be bought – love, compassion, justice, forgiveness, grace.