DRIVING from place to place often
finds me listening to my
favourite radio station. Its mellow music relaxes me, disengaging my
mind from the pressures of work and allowing it to go where it
pleases.
With eyes, hands and legs attentive to things on the road,
and music playing in the background, I indulge in some lateral
thinking as one part of my mind travels here and there, often soaring
high to get a bird’s-eye view of things, trying to notice changes in
the macro world, or otherwise plunging deep into a certain point,
analyzing details and other subtleties.
It also allows me to go into meditative mode, praying for
persons and different intentions and concerns, or chewing on some
theological insights. But the music should somehow be there to keep me
alert in my driving.
It’s actually very seldom that I pay close attention to
the songs unless something strikes me. But recently i was struck by
the Boyzone song, No Matter What. It hit me as kind of playful and
teasing with their brand of boyish bravado, so I tried to figure out
the lyrics.
It’s definitely a love song, with a setting that I imagine
can be very irresistible to young people who like to feel good, swoon
and fly to fantasy land. It’s got ardour played out in classy, cool
self-confidence.
There’s, of course, a lot of poetic license involved here,
and so I thought it should not be taken too seriously. The youth are
entitled to some poetic illusions if only to get them going rather
than idle and stagnant.
There was just one line or two that grabbed my attention.
I felt that if misunderstood, the ideas presented in catchy tune can
be dangerous. We all know that nowadays, poison is often offered sweet
and attractive, knocking us down without us knowing what hit us.
After expressing a series of no-matter-what’s, reinforcing
an I-don’t-care attitude, the singer-lover asserts that what he
believes is simply true and that he cannot be what he is not, typical
lover’s language, forceful, oozing with self-confidence.
But the song provoked me into serious thinking. What he’s
saying is that no one and nothing can force him to think, say or do
what he thinks and believes is true. There was no mention of the basis
or reference of his thinking and belief. Everything seems to start and
end with him and his idea of love. He is answerable to no one except
to his love.
I immediately thought this was a case of extreme and
invincible subjectivism that, I am afraid, is becoming a trend around.
And so I felt that we need to be clear about who and what we really
are.
This is a crucial matter that should not be taken for
granted. We just cannot limit our identity to our physical or personal
appearance, or our biological and genetic constitution, and much less
to our feelings and passions alone.
Our identity is not only a matter of having a name, with
such and such family background. Neither is it about our legal,
professional, social or economic status alone. Our true identity goes
much deeper than all these aspects.
The very foundation of our identity is that we are all
creatures of God, created in his image and likeness. God is at the
very center of our identity. It is this radical basis of our identity
that holds everything else about our identity together, whether it is
our physical attributes or our biological, emotional, psychological
properties, etc.
It is this radical basis of our identity that would make
sure that we have a complete, not partial, understanding of ourselves.
On it depends how we all ought to think, say or act properly. It
indicates to us what is universally good, true and proper to all of
us. As such, it is the ultimate basis of our unity in spite of the
many legitimate differences we can have among ourselves.
We need to little by little live out this radicalness and
fullness of our identity. Such effort, which obviously will take our
whole lifetime, would unravel to us the real beauty and dignity of our
true identity.
The growing awareness of our true identity will give us a
daily and generous dose of joy and peace, knowing that, no matter
what, God is our father. He will always be around for us.
The growing awareness of our true identity will also
remind us of our duties toward God, something that we should try our
best to fulfill, since they are very crucial.
favourite radio station. Its mellow music relaxes me, disengaging my
mind from the pressures of work and allowing it to go where it
pleases.
With eyes, hands and legs attentive to things on the road,
and music playing in the background, I indulge in some lateral
thinking as one part of my mind travels here and there, often soaring
high to get a bird’s-eye view of things, trying to notice changes in
the macro world, or otherwise plunging deep into a certain point,
analyzing details and other subtleties.
It also allows me to go into meditative mode, praying for
persons and different intentions and concerns, or chewing on some
theological insights. But the music should somehow be there to keep me
alert in my driving.
It’s actually very seldom that I pay close attention to
the songs unless something strikes me. But recently i was struck by
the Boyzone song, No Matter What. It hit me as kind of playful and
teasing with their brand of boyish bravado, so I tried to figure out
the lyrics.
It’s definitely a love song, with a setting that I imagine
can be very irresistible to young people who like to feel good, swoon
and fly to fantasy land. It’s got ardour played out in classy, cool
self-confidence.
There’s, of course, a lot of poetic license involved here,
and so I thought it should not be taken too seriously. The youth are
entitled to some poetic illusions if only to get them going rather
than idle and stagnant.
There was just one line or two that grabbed my attention.
I felt that if misunderstood, the ideas presented in catchy tune can
be dangerous. We all know that nowadays, poison is often offered sweet
and attractive, knocking us down without us knowing what hit us.
After expressing a series of no-matter-what’s, reinforcing
an I-don’t-care attitude, the singer-lover asserts that what he
believes is simply true and that he cannot be what he is not, typical
lover’s language, forceful, oozing with self-confidence.
But the song provoked me into serious thinking. What he’s
saying is that no one and nothing can force him to think, say or do
what he thinks and believes is true. There was no mention of the basis
or reference of his thinking and belief. Everything seems to start and
end with him and his idea of love. He is answerable to no one except
to his love.
I immediately thought this was a case of extreme and
invincible subjectivism that, I am afraid, is becoming a trend around.
And so I felt that we need to be clear about who and what we really
are.
This is a crucial matter that should not be taken for
granted. We just cannot limit our identity to our physical or personal
appearance, or our biological and genetic constitution, and much less
to our feelings and passions alone.
Our identity is not only a matter of having a name, with
such and such family background. Neither is it about our legal,
professional, social or economic status alone. Our true identity goes
much deeper than all these aspects.
The very foundation of our identity is that we are all
creatures of God, created in his image and likeness. God is at the
very center of our identity. It is this radical basis of our identity
that holds everything else about our identity together, whether it is
our physical attributes or our biological, emotional, psychological
properties, etc.
It is this radical basis of our identity that would make
sure that we have a complete, not partial, understanding of ourselves.
On it depends how we all ought to think, say or act properly. It
indicates to us what is universally good, true and proper to all of
us. As such, it is the ultimate basis of our unity in spite of the
many legitimate differences we can have among ourselves.
We need to little by little live out this radicalness and
fullness of our identity. Such effort, which obviously will take our
whole lifetime, would unravel to us the real beauty and dignity of our
true identity.
The growing awareness of our true identity will give us a
daily and generous dose of joy and peace, knowing that, no matter
what, God is our father. He will always be around for us.
The growing awareness of our true identity will also
remind us of our duties toward God, something that we should try our
best to fulfill, since they are very crucial.
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