That’s a question we’ve undoubtedly all heard before. While it can be delivered with an accusatory or confrontational undertone, the question itself is a provocative one that we all must grapple with at some point in our life. To answer it honestly requires some real digging into the heart of one’s spiritual identity.
Many times I’ve had to ask myself, “Who are you, really?” Sometimes the answer has come as a still, small voice saying, “This is not who you are.” When for instance, 26 years ago, at the end of a long battle with alcohol dependency, I knew I had a choice: to die, or live and raise my children. In my heart, I knew I had to get well. I couldn’t abandon my children, as I was essentially raising them by myself (my husband was a busy cardiologist). And I somehow knew that this frail, ill woman I seemed to be was not me at all. The voice I heard was quiet, sudden, and real. The proof of its power was that I turned my back on the old life and entered a new, sober one, finding the beginnings of my spiritual identity in a 12-step program for people recovering from addictions.
The understanding of my identity as an idea of the same Mind who governs the universe has enabled me to find freedom from many issues.
