God and Identity

We are who we are only in relation to God. God is the center of all value and Being, and the wellspring from which our existence is sustained. To live without God is to live on a trajectory towards frustrated self obsession, battling within oneself and consuming the individual in the process. Jesus Christ offers a way out of the winding doom of self — a way to ground oneself not in the vacant chasms of the ego, but instead in the infinite wellspring of Life and joy that is the Holy Spirit. Part of the essence of Christianity is to live in the spirit; to be regenerated out of original sin through baptism and the inner dwelling of the Holy Spirit.

As we become ourselves throughout our lives, we grow closer to God because we have been alive longer to experience His Truth and Spirit. The process of living is merely becoming our true selves in relation to God. This is a profound mystery: that God is closer to ourselves than we are. This is the only law of existence, the law of transformation. We become ourselves by dying to ourselves. We gain only what we lose. “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39).

The Christian life is jubilant because the Holy Spirit lives within us. It is hard to overstress the importance of personally discerning the Spirit as Christians. It is the integral means of our transformation in Christ. Many Christians go to Mass, say their prayers, and give their tithes, but never realize and discern the Holy Spirit within their heart of hearts. This process is driven almost entirely by the grace of God, but in order to recieve that grace one must first seek it and accept it into one’s life. Opening oneself to Christ will liberate the self from bondage to narcissism and the fear of death. “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” (James 4:8).