Well, that’s a tongue-twisting phrase, isn’t it? Of course, it means “to be what we are” but the emphasis here sits squarely on the negative. Ok, negatives… there are two of them! Proper English prefers we not speak in double negatives but one of the greatest challenges we all face as walking, talking human beings is to not be what we’re not.
We all test our limits from time to time, especially when we’re young. And it can be a positive thing to stretch ourselves to learn new stuff and experience things “outside our comfort zone.” But to try to be other than we are created to be leans in disastrous directions. Like expecting that we will never feel strong emotions, attempting to tamp them down when they hit us like a tsunami. Like believing we should do everything we undertake with ease and perfection, even if for the first time. Like thinking we will always and in all ways function in this world with wise and decisive discernment. In other words, having it lodged stodgily in our heads that we’re not to be human.
And that’s trying to be what we’re not. We may not love it but it’s our only option. Yes, in the eyes of our American culture, some are admired more than others. Some are deemed successful. Some excel beyond others in certain undertakings such as sports. Some sing beautifully, create extraordinarily, dance remarkably, act convincingly, speak persuasively. But not a single person on the planet escapes the human condition.
We probably know a person who accepts the blessed mess of humanity, don’t we? One who truly does not attempt to be what s/he is not. Authentic. Congruous. Composed. When we encounter such a person, it’s like hearing the pitch of a tuning fork. True. Lovely. Clear.
Frederick Buechner, who died in 2022, is one such person. In his sermon titled To Be a Saint he writes, “To be a saint is to be human because we were created to be human.” Easy to read but tough to trust. We, stumbling around with our feet of clay, would prefer to be other than. Buechner describes what it is to live into this creation we are: “Maybe more than anything else, to be a saint is to know joy… To be a saint is to be a little out of one’s mind, which is a very good thing to be a little out of from time to time.”
Imagine it. More genuinely expressive, joy-filled human beings. Less over-thinking, calculating human beings. Will we do it? Not be what we’re not?
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