The Sage Observer

Who Am I?

Who am I? Who are you? For that matter, who are we? I've been thinking about this for a long time and have developed a theory. I’ll share it with you and see what you think. Let’s suspose–I know; the little red line just came up on my computer, telling me I misspelled the word, suppose. In passing, let me explain that I have this very dear friend, a lawyer, whom, over the years, I have come to love and respect very much. He’s from Georgia; and, when discussing or explaining an issue, he likes to say, “Let’s suspose……..”. So, therefore, please forgive my digression and indulge me while we suspose.

Beginning at the very beginning, let’s suspose that for every unborn individual there is, somewhere in Heaven, an individual spirit just waiting his turn to be born. For the sake of illustration, let us imagine in our mind’s eye, that spirit as a glass of water, clear, pure, and transparent–with no color whatsoever, either in the glass or the water–it’s perfect. Now, along comes a man and a woman who each, respectively, drop a sperm and an egg into the water. The sperm fertilizes the egg and they, combining their respective genomes, become one, the beginning of a person–the water in the glass becomes slightly colored. The “glass of water with the egg” spends nine months in the woman’s womb, the experience of which slightly changes the color of the water.

Then the baby is born, coming from the warmth and comfort of the womb into a cold and not so comfortable world. Again, the color of the water is changed. We now have a new human being with his own DNA, looks, physical condition, personality, and character–the color of his water. But, we can’t stop here, can we. Life goes on.

Next comes the nurture of the new baby. He may either be breast fed or bottle fed, diapered and changed. He is affected by every aspect of his environment down to the smallest: the volume and tone of the voices around him, language, temperature, light, darkness, and on and on and on. He is constantly learning–from what he hears and perceives even more so than from what he is told. Every effect lends itself to the ever changing color of his water–his character. The baby is constantly learning to walk, to talk, to speak, to read. He becomes educated. He grows up, and he continues to grow mentally and physically until he is finally a mature person with his very own personality and character–his very own color of water. Let us suspose the color of his water is now yellow. That is our new person, you or me.

To help us understand further, let us suspose there are two more persons with their glasses of water. Their beginnings, their environments, their nurtures, their experiences, their exposures, and their educations–all these in one way, to one extent, or another (most probably even in the womb) are different. In our susposition, we now have three persons, three distinctly different characters, three colors of water–let’s say red, yellow, and blue.

It has been said that we are all three persons. We are how we see ourselves; we are how others see us; and we are as God sees us. You don’t have to agree with me, but think about this for a moment. Let’s suspose the person in the glass with the yellow water is talking to the person in the glass with the blue water, what does he see?  I submit to you, he sees himself as yellow, and he sees the other as green. I further submit to you that, when the person in the glass with the red water looks at the person in the glass with the blue water, he sees himself as red and the other as purple. Now, let’s ask one last question, and I’ll quit. When the person in the glass with the yellow water is talking to the person in the glass with the red water about the person in the glass with the blue water, how will they view each other’s perception of that guy in the blue water?

Who am I? Who are you? Who are we? Let ‘suspose.

Ronald Miller

mtss86@bellsouth.net