Being Defined By

In my meditative time recently,  I was thinking about how often people are molded, marked, shaped by certain events in their lives.   Either events, or place, or ideology, or culture, or time of service.   Any of those can be the defining thing in a person's life.   One may be defined by a family, career, talent, disability, accomplishment.

Knowing my husband the way I do,  I would say that without a doubt, the defining aspect of his life was the fact that he grew up on the farm, and all the struggle and challenges,  and complex opportunities that come with that. Even though he has spent his life in academia, even there he focused on agriculture.

Over the course of my life I have observed the deep and lasting impact on individuals who served in the military, particularly during time of war.  Many World War II veterans stay in touch with others with whom they served, for the rest of their lives.  I have personally seen numerous Vietnam veterans who were no longer the same person, following their service. Many still suffer from the stress, decades after the experience.  Their military service is a defining aspect of their entire lives.

I think of some people I know who grew up and have lived their entire lives in the South. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the entire worldview is shaped by that place and culture.   Food and religion are place-specific.  Many of the southerners I have known have been shaped by the messages and expectations that go with that heritage.  Those who do not share the same values are simply dismissed as Yankees.

I feel very fortunate to have lived in many places and to have experienced many cultures.  While there are some distinct disadvantages of not being rooted to place,  overall the positive result is a constant evolution of personality and thought.

Certainly one of the things that has evolved along the way is my Christian worldview.  I have moved along a spectrum of a more fundamentalist background in my youth, to a progressive interpretation of Christian thought in my adulthood.   I have attended different kinds of churches  (Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian) depending upon where I lived and what was available at the time.   I have served as a pastor of a number of United Methodist Churches as an ordained minister, and as an active lay person in many more.  I have attended churches in the south and in the north, in seminary, and in a variety of other contexts.

Although it has been an evolutionary process,  (not static ever) it is clear to me that the defining aspect of my own life is church.  That has been the constant,  the central piece,  despite my location or culture.  I was deeply shaped by the songs and stories of church in my childhood.  I was captivated by the Christian ideals  (though all churches and Christians fall short of that).

My activities, friendships, opportunities for service still center around church, even as a retired senior citizen and retired clergy.

Of course, I have a strong identity as a mother,  as a spouse.  I have had other jobs or professions. There are other aspects of who I am---writer, poet, lyricist, teacher.

But clearly, the most formative aspect of my life is and always has been----church.