We should strive to be
a little more of ourselves

Speaking of Religion
The Rev. Dr. Tim Griffin

The wise Rabbi Bunam once said in his old age, when he had already grown blind: "I should not like to change places with our father Abraham! What good would it do God if Abraham became like blind Bunam, and blind Bunam became like Abraham? Rather than have this happen, I think I shall try to become a little more myself."
Martin Buber, The Way of Man: According to the Teachings of Hasidism

"I think I shall try to become a little more myself." What a profound statement of humanity’s religious quest.
But taken at face value Rabbi Bunam’s words seem to make no sense. What can it mean to "try to be a little more myself?" I am always myself, aren’t I? I don’t need to try to be myself; who else could I be?
Still, who among us does not understand the point Rabbi Bunam is making? I believe we all have the sense implied by his words — the sense that my life is not an accurate or authentic representation of my true self. In retelling this little story, the philosopher and theologian Martin Buber is reminding us of a fundamental feature of our religious longing. We want to know who we are; we want to be our authentic self.
The story of how we lost this self, and how we can recover, or better yet, uncover our self is told by our religious traditions. In the story of my tradition, humanity lost its authentic self when it asserted its will in defiance to the divine will. When this occurred, humanity was deprived of the intimate communion with God that it had prior to its act of defiance.
This story of humanity’s "fall" is told in allegorical language, but the sense of the story is nonetheless straightforward. Our alienation is a result of choices and actions that are not in accord with the source of life.
Is it any wonder, then, that we find it so difficult to be our authentic self? My authentic self would be one that lives in communion with its source, but I no longer enjoy this communion. That is the human predicament that underlies Rabbi Bunam’s statement.
So that’s the first half of the story, i.e., how we lost our authentic self. The other half concerns how we can recover or uncover this self. While this answer differs considerably from one religious tradition to another, most traditions share two elements.
First, most agree that grace is a key element in the uncovering of one’s authentic self. I cannot do it myself. Even traditions, like Zen Buddhism, that lean heavily on individual effort acknowledge that uncovering one’s authentic self is a gift.
Second, most agree that grace is accompanied by a way of life through which one can cooperate with grace. This way of life is a way of being and doing that enables one to live in communion with God, to return to that state of communion.
In Judaism, for example, this way of life is prescribed by the Torah, while in Islam it is a matter of observing the five pillars of the faith. In Christianity this is the way of faith, hope and love that characterized the life of Jesus the Christ, through whom God is manifest.
Of course, these ways differ from one another, and even within traditions there are different denominations with different emphases.
This plurality of "ways" runs afoul of our desire for certainty and uniformity. And it is at this point that we must take care not to allow these desires to transform our "way" into an idol. We must remember that we are seeking to live in communion with God, which is to be our authentic self.
Is my Christian "way" the only acceptable way to communion with God? I do not know. But I have faith that it is one way, and that faith is enough.
This is another aspect of Rabbi Bunam’s point. He tries to be a little more himself, rather than trying to be Abraham. Our "way" is meant to liberate us rather than confine us. Rabbi Bunam’s way frees him to be himself; he does not need to be Abraham, and more importantly, God does not need that either.
Sometimes we hear that a religious way of life is confining. But as Rabbi Bunam suggests, our "way" does not constrain us to be someone else; it liberates us to be ourselves.
I think I shall try to become a little more myself. How about you? ••
Father Tim Griffin is priest-in-charge at the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, at 1946 Welsh Road in Bustleton.