As a boy I used to enjoy watching my favorite superheroes on television. Invariably, each of these characters had two identities—one as a famous crime fighter, the other as an ordinary person, usually with a personality completely different from the hero image.
Later, in high school and college, I realized that I too exhibited some signs of having more than one identity. Sometimes I would feel very quiet and want to be alone with my thoughts. At other times, especially when I was with close friends, I felt like acting loud and boisterous. Sometimes I was very happy, but at other times I felt really down—either sad, angry, or lonely. I found myself asking which of these moods represented my true identity.
It wasn't until later on, when I began to study the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings more earnestly, that I found the answer, which was that I was asking the wrong question! Instead of asking which human characteristics better represented my true identity, I should have asked how I could more fully express my one true, spiritual identity as a beloved child of God. What I had failed to see was that when I was very happy, I was—to a degree—showing my true identity, which included such qualities as joy, unselfishness, and brotherly love. But when I was in a down mood, expressing anger, fear, envy, or loneliness, I was not representing my true selfhood.
