A self Portrait

“ Are they Hebrews ? So am I. Are they Israelites ? So am I . Are they Abraham descendants ? So am I.  Are they servants of Christ ( I am out of my mind to talk like this ) . I have worked harder, been in prison more frequently . . I am more ….”       2 Corinthians 11: 22-23

These are the harsh words of Paul, the early church leader. He is trying to defend himself against the critics in the church at Corinth. He was the founder of that small church, and it has not turned out the way that some believers had thought it would, and they had written him a letter voicing their concerns. The letter that Paul writes back to them is so honest. He is angry. The verses I quote here, Paul is being sarcastic about how a great disciple he is. They cannot cannot be a better Christian than him. He is by far a better one than any of them. We assume he is being sarcastic… and arrogant.

So, if you are a Christian, how would you describe yourself in terms of your faith. And if you are agnostic or atheist, how do you describe your life journey ? Are you a Canadian ? So am I . Are you an immigrant ? So am I (through my parents )? Are you a resident of Waterloo Region ? So am I . Were you born here. ? I was not. What do you think of me now since I am not a native son ?

Norman Rockwell was a folk painter in the United States, He was famous for his covers of the magazine, The Saturday Evening Post . He painted everyday scenes of American life, and people loved his work. In 1963, he painted Ruby Bridges, a young black girl, walking to an all-white school. He also painted a picture of a black family just moving into a house in a white neighborhood. He got racist letters from people. He never quite recovered from the criticism. When he became political, he was seen as taking the wrong or right side of the argument. He also has a painting of himself painting himself in a self portrait . If you were a painter, how would you portray yourself ? Rockwell was always painting part of himself in everything he painted .

So who am I ? I think the Israeli government is a bully, and has discriminated against the Palestinian people for over 50 years. They have the guns, the tanks, the bulldozers, the checkpoints and most of the money. I will always support Canada taking in refugees because refugees are at risk of death and exploitation. It is the right thing to do. I do not support the church being judgmental against anyone. We should be open, and show our love to all people, coming out of the love that Jesus has for all of us. I am committed to work within the Church. I believe it is the body of Christ , even with all its bad history and present problems. I will never leave it, even it takes positions that I am not in favor today. I believe in the Bible as the word from God, but am open to new understandings everyday with it. It is a book to be discussed and disagreed with in our everyday lives.

So, this is part of my self-portrait. I have not shared all of who I am, or what I believe in everything. What is part of your self-portrait ? Who are you ? And what do you believe ?

Fred