Brian’s Reflection: Tuesday, January 8, 2008


The image is one thing and the human being is another.
It's very hard to live up to an image, put it that way.

- Elvis Presley, born on this day, 1935


Well, Elvis hits it right on the head, yes? I’m sure he was just thinking of himself – what he had to deal with in terms of being Elvis, and what his fans expected him to be. At some level or other, every one of us has to confront this issue. Who are we. Are we being ourselves, or are we letting others “tell us” who they want us to be. How much time do we spend trying to meet others’ expectations?

Christianity, along with other religions, really ups the ante! We are called to be Christlike! Now, if that doesn’t make you feel stressed, nothing will.

But let’s think about this. We seem to think that being Christlike means we have to be exactly like Jesus, behave exactly as He did, love exactly as He did. I don’t think so. There isn’t only one image or definition of “Christlike”. And it doesn’t mean that to be Christlike we can’t be ourselves, the unique self that God made each of us. What it does mean – to me anyway – is that we become “as Christ” in our own unique and individual way. Jesus’ great love may have led Him to a death on Calvary, led him to the Cross - but each of us will have our own “Calvary” and our own “Cross” on the path to becoming a loving human being.

An imposed “image” is false. An “image” discovered in the mystery of finding our unique Self , and embraced, is more what I think God had in mind.

Elvis – and it happens to many – got lost in the expectations of others. Let’s not go there.

Brian+