1 Epiphany B
January 7, 2018
Genesis 1:1-5 Ps. 29
Acts 9:1-7 Mark 1:4-11
Today is the Baptism of Jesus Sunday. And baptism provides a most important insight in this human quest of who we know ourselves to be and who we want to yet be.
Four statements are not true: 1-I have a superior and perfect human nature, a perfect pedigree. 2-I have a completely flawed and imperfect human nature, an impaired human nature. 3-I have a superior upbringing with perfect associations. 4-I have a totally flawed human community with completely imperfect role models.
None of these statements are true, even while all are partially true. How so? 1- I have a snowflake unique nature without another copy. 2-My unique nature includes being sinful or falling short of my own set of ideals. 3-I have been given in my life access to some people who are models of good behaviors. 4-I have also been exposed to some poor examples human conduct.
I believe the event of the baptism of Jesus Christ gives us an important insight about how we can live within the probable conditions of nature and nurture which can seem to determine our lives.
The heavenly voice said to Jesus at his baptism: "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
This is the baptismal secret of life. What was said to Jesus was also being said to all of us. St. Paul wrote that we are all in Christ and part of the body of Christ. And being in Christ, we can hear this heavenly voice speaking to each of us. "You are my child, the beloved; with you I am well pleased."
Now why is hearing this important in the Nature/Nurture issues of life? If we are too proud of our nature or our nurture then we unwittingly commit the sin of pride before God's greatness and before the human community. If we are completely critical about how bad other people are in causing our bad performance, we give them too much power. If we are neurotically self blaming about our imperfect nature then we blaspheme God our creator for making a mistake with our unique nature.
The way in which we help ourselves from the effects of being over-determined by the nature/nurture cycle of causation is to know ourselves as being children of God; to know ourselves as touched by God is what the early church called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The experience of Holy Spirit is to know a higher Nature within us with the power to determine us beyond the limits of our nature and our nurture.
The people whom I have admired the most in life are those who have had the experience of the uncanny. They have known themselves to be touched by a Higher Power and these people have come from all socio-economic backgrounds and educational levels. These people have had wide and varied gifts, talents and abilities. These people have had really really good fortune in life; these people have had really, really bad luck in life when the deck has seemed to be profoundly stacked against their success, and yet all kinds of people have had this experience of the power of being a child of God. As John's Gospel states, "who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God."
This uncanny experience is a crucial event of personal esteem and it allows us to be shielded from the horrifying effects in the failures of nurture and nature, and it helps us to remain humble in the face of the good effects of nature and nurture.
To know this baptismal experience of the esteem of being God's child, one can learn to live with faith and in wisdom to live with the cumulative effects of the nature and nurture of one's life. And this is the faith adventure that each of us is living.
Today, as we commemorate the baptism of Jesus, let us know that into his baptism we too have been baptized. We too, can hear the heavenly voice say to us: You are my child, the beloved; with you I am well pleased. And having this event of personal esteem, let each of us go forth to determine our lives with wisdom and with acts of faith based upon the eternal hope of God. Amen.
Genesis 1:1-5 Ps. 29
Acts 9:1-7 Mark 1:4-11
In trying to answer the question of why one becomes the person that one is, we have the debate about Nature or Nurture. Am I who I am because of my inherent basic genetic nature or am I who I am because of all of the environmental influences that nurtured me to make me who I am? Those who believe that Nature is the telling factor, cite the case studies of identical twins separated at birth in adoption and who have been raised in different socio-economic settings. They point to the data which shows identical twins behaving in similar ways in spite of having radically different socio-economic family environments. Others note that socio-economic settings influence the probability of future success and failure in one's socio-economic performance and behaviors.
More sanguine observers would simply say about the Nature/Nurture debate: It's both. We are determined in part by our genetic internal physiological natures; we are determined in part by our social environment.
Sigmund Freud added his insights about psychological determinism with his "holy family of Mommy, Daddy and Me." The young infant and toddler has his or her life scripted by a body narrative based upon how the parents code and treat the three erogenous zones of the baby's body. Each body has a narrative and that narrative is a script which determines future psychological states of mind and behaviors.
The injunction of the Delphic oracle was: Know thyself. Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." And in our quest to discover that our lives are worth living we seek to know ourselves. One question of self knowledge is: "how did I become the way that I am? " To know oneself is to ask questions about what has caused me to be and act in the ways that I have come to act.
And in the appraisal of self-knowledge we seek causal answers with a purpose. One of the purposes of our lives involves how can we be and act better in our lives. And if we experience self-discontentment, what do we do? What do we do about the feeling of self-discontentment?
Today is the Baptism of Jesus Sunday. And baptism provides a most important insight in this human quest of who we know ourselves to be and who we want to yet be.
Four statements are not true: 1-I have a superior and perfect human nature, a perfect pedigree. 2-I have a completely flawed and imperfect human nature, an impaired human nature. 3-I have a superior upbringing with perfect associations. 4-I have a totally flawed human community with completely imperfect role models.
None of these statements are true, even while all are partially true. How so? 1- I have a snowflake unique nature without another copy. 2-My unique nature includes being sinful or falling short of my own set of ideals. 3-I have been given in my life access to some people who are models of good behaviors. 4-I have also been exposed to some poor examples human conduct.
I believe the event of the baptism of Jesus Christ gives us an important insight about how we can live within the probable conditions of nature and nurture which can seem to determine our lives.
The heavenly voice said to Jesus at his baptism: "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
This is the baptismal secret of life. What was said to Jesus was also being said to all of us. St. Paul wrote that we are all in Christ and part of the body of Christ. And being in Christ, we can hear this heavenly voice speaking to each of us. "You are my child, the beloved; with you I am well pleased."
Now why is hearing this important in the Nature/Nurture issues of life? If we are too proud of our nature or our nurture then we unwittingly commit the sin of pride before God's greatness and before the human community. If we are completely critical about how bad other people are in causing our bad performance, we give them too much power. If we are neurotically self blaming about our imperfect nature then we blaspheme God our creator for making a mistake with our unique nature.
The way in which we help ourselves from the effects of being over-determined by the nature/nurture cycle of causation is to know ourselves as being children of God; to know ourselves as touched by God is what the early church called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The experience of Holy Spirit is to know a higher Nature within us with the power to determine us beyond the limits of our nature and our nurture.
The people whom I have admired the most in life are those who have had the experience of the uncanny. They have known themselves to be touched by a Higher Power and these people have come from all socio-economic backgrounds and educational levels. These people have had wide and varied gifts, talents and abilities. These people have had really really good fortune in life; these people have had really, really bad luck in life when the deck has seemed to be profoundly stacked against their success, and yet all kinds of people have had this experience of the power of being a child of God. As John's Gospel states, "who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God."
This uncanny experience is a crucial event of personal esteem and it allows us to be shielded from the horrifying effects in the failures of nurture and nature, and it helps us to remain humble in the face of the good effects of nature and nurture.
To know this baptismal experience of the esteem of being God's child, one can learn to live with faith and in wisdom to live with the cumulative effects of the nature and nurture of one's life. And this is the faith adventure that each of us is living.
Today, as we commemorate the baptism of Jesus, let us know that into his baptism we too have been baptized. We too, can hear the heavenly voice say to us: You are my child, the beloved; with you I am well pleased. And having this event of personal esteem, let each of us go forth to determine our lives with wisdom and with acts of faith based upon the eternal hope of God. Amen.
