06.1 Who am I, really?

I have set myself a difficult task for this chapter. I want to convince you that the Christian teaching about “original sin” is exceedingly good news.

Dear reader, I feel I must warn you that this chapter is very much a rough draft and incomplete. There is much more to be written before I actually accomplish my goal, but this has been a very difficult chapter to write. My inner critic has been very loud! So I ask for your understanding and patience. And I very much value your feedback!

Also, please note that this has been very minimally proofread. I plan to do so over the next week or so, but for now, I figured something was better than nothing.

Finally, this is a good time to remind you that none of these chapters are final. They will be the source texts from which we draw when editing and completing the final draft.

I have set myself a difficult task for this chapter. I want to convince you that the Christian teaching about “original sin” is exceedingly good news. That it creates extraordinary compassion for ourselves and others. That it is uniquely powerful at unifying people across impossible divides. And that it is, in fact, necessary to believe in order to be human in this inhuman world. 

But first things first. Let’s start with a simple answer to the question posed: who am I? I am God’s beloved creation, made for eternal, intimate companionship with God and others. All of my faculties were designed to fulfill that purpose. In short, I am made to be loved and to love; to know fully and be fully known; to be “at home” here and everywhere. 

I know this is true because it is my deepest desire. It is the desire toward which all other desires aim. Beyond my desire for wealth lies the desire for total security. Underneath my desire for sex lies the desire to be accepted and cherished just as I am. Inside my desire to eat is the desire to be sustained by and provided for by the world. And beyond all these desires lies an even deeper longing. A longing that has never been satisfied; the desire to be intertwined with beauty itself, to somehow be both inside it and outside it at the same time. To become it and at the same time behold it.