"And the trouble is. . .

We don't know who we are instead."

That's a lyric from a Jars of Clay song that has been on my mind a lot lately.

Who are we? As a race? Is there such a thing as human nature and if so, what does it encompass? Why do we do the things we do? Would we do things differently if we defined ourselves differently, if we remembered who we are instead?

The lyric I've quoted above always makes me think of the Chronicles of Narnia, especially The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. In the book the character Edmund's fear is that he isn't as good/strong as his older brother Peter. This fear is exploited by the villainess who convinces Edmund she will make him a prince in Narnia and make his siblings his slaves if he does her bidding. Poor Edmund succummbs to the temptation. What he doesn't know is that there is a prophecy that names him and his siblings as the kings and queens of Narnia. One has to wonder, would Edmund have settled for being a prince if he knew he was already a king? Would he have acted so despicably if he knew he was destined to reign equally with his brother?

I often wonder if we, as a culture, and also as a race, suffer from selective amnesia choosing to forget who we are, giving over a bit of our freedom and dignity to avoid the responsibility that comes with them.

Why do we, as a nation, suffer our news media to report on he banal activities of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline when genocide is occurring and civil war are breaking out all over the world? Why do we, women, allow advertisers to tell us that we aren't enough as we are, that we need what they have to make us truly desirable? Why do we, as humans, continue to fight each other for resources rather than work together to maximize them?

I think it's because we don't remember who we are instead. If we, as a nation, remembered how our success and safety are connected to the rest of the world, remembered that we are part of the global community, remembered who we are instead, I can't believe anyone would pay attention to Britney's hair color this week. If we, as women, remembered that our bodies are beautifully and elegantly designed to bring life into the world I can't believe that we would tolerate the homogeneous and unhealthy role models we're given. And if we as humans remembered that we are all equal stewards of the earth, not it's creators, I like to believe we would work together for the good of our planet and each other rather than persist in our endless power struggles.

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