Who Am I?

 

The Worth of a Life

In 1742 one of the most famous poems in the English language was published - it caused a sensation and is still revered today. Some of its lines have been used as titles for films and books. It was written by Thomas Gray, a former scholar at Cambridge who was acquainted with many prominent statesmen of his time. He had recently moved to the village of Stoke Poges in Buckinghamshire and during a stroll through the village churchyard he pondered the lives of the men, women, and children buried there. Who were they? What kind of lives had they led? Though unknown to him and the nation, Gray believed their lives deserved recognition. Inspired by these thoughts, he wrote his Elegy in a Country Churchyard to honour their memory. 

Here are four of the verses, Full text here

Seventeen years after the publication of  these lines, Major General James Wolfe on the night before the Battle of Quebec, read the poem to his officers. He said to them,  "I would rather be the author of that poem than achieve the glory of defeating the French tomorrow." The following day Wolfe died in battle.

He understood that despite his distinction as a soldier and despite his national fame, his life was of no greater worth than the lives of the villagers sleeping in that churchyard. He wanted his officers to value the life of every soldier under their command as equal in worth to their own.

Pecking Order

Human society does not work like this. Chickens have their pecking order and so do we. We slot individuals, people groups and even nations into our mental hierarchies. We can't help it, it's in our DNA. We evolved by the same process as the chickens - survival of the fittest. It's how we got here and this is how human society operates. Instinctively, all the time, we assess and evaluate; we rank and rate; we size up and check out. This is how everything works in education, employment, wealth, relationships, social media followers  and so on. Wherever you look it's there. Turned into entertainment it gives us competitions, sports, TV shows and pub quizzes. 

Who Am I?

We automatically slot ourselves into the system. Where do I fit? Where do I rank? Above him but below her? What is my self-worth?  What am I? Who am I? 

Jesus' teaching

Jesus was very clear about pecking orders. He had nothing to do with them. He saw people as individuals not as part of a group, His teaching was about a different set of values which he called the Kingdom of Heaven. Human society with its heirarchies and dog eat dog fight for survival he called the Kingdom of the World. He made a foreigner the hero of his Good Samaritan story; he had a meal with a despised tax-collector; he touched a man with leprosy; he told a story in which a poor man went to heaven and a rich man ended in torment; he overturned the tables of money-lenders. In the end he was executed because he was upsetting the natural order of things. By challenging wealth, status and power he was confronting those in charge, so they got rid of him.

What is our measure?

How do we evaluate our lives and how do we evaluate other people? What is the measure? We have our feet in both of Jesus' kingdoms but which side pulls us most?

Here's another poem that compares the values of the large prominent life with the small, hidden one.

The Noble Nature

It is not growing like a tree
in bulk, doth make Man better be;
or standing long an oak three hundred year,
to fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere;

A lily of a day
is fairer in May,
although it fall and die that night-
It was the plant and flower of Light.
In small proportions we just beauties see:
and in short measures life may perfect be.

Ben Jonson (1572-1637)

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