It was amusing—yet thought-provoking—to read the account of a movie star who was sent on location where, for the first time, he was able to take his wife and young son. It was a new and happy situation for this little family. Shortly after their arrival, they went out to dinner in a public restaurant, something they had not done before. After a while, the young son turned to his father and whispered, "Dad, there are people over there who keep staring at us." His father shrugged off the remark, saying, "Oh, maybe they know who we are." The youngster thought about that for a minute or two. Then he asked, "Well, who are we?"
That's a provocative question that many of us have asked ourselves: Who am I? What am I? What constitutes my identity, my function, my purpose?
Mary Baker Eddy lifts thought to the contemplation of what actually constitutes identity and function and purpose when she writes: "As an active portion of one stupendous whole, goodness identifies man with universal good. Thus may each member of this church rise above the oft repeated inquiry, What am I? to the scientific response: I am able to impart truth, health, and happiness, and this is my rock of salvation and my reason for existing." The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 165.
