Me-ness

Are you in the iworld? As in iMac, iPhone, iTouch, iPad, iPod, iTunes, i…i…iEverything. I am. Am I? Are you?

What does the “i” actually mean? I begin to think…innovative, information, ingenious? But after a quick Google search the answer is….. internet. I was somewhat disappointed with this finding. I was hoping for something with a little more punch or creativity. For it seems these products have become an ‘i’ unto themselves. And somehow this i world has been born into the ‘me’ generation. Appropriate, it seems.

Ray and I read quite a bit. I will confess to you that some of our reading is pure commercial fiction. We love a good mystery particular with humor added. One author we’ve read quite a bit is Harlen Cobin. He has a character named Win whose girlfriend is named, Mee. She’s Asian and fits into the storyline mainly because of her name. Win will often speak of Mee like this, “Mee and I are now going to dinner and the movies and this pleases me”. Or “You, me and Mee have so much in common”. It’s amusing as the play on words is fun and offers the reader a giggle. He also has introduced a new character whose name is Yu. I’ll let your mind think about his use of all these names in one sentence!

I admit I like these words: I and me. I’ve even lived my life around them and actually that’s our battle, isn’t it? The iworld we live in encourages us to focus on the me-ness of me. And it’s in this me-ness that the separation from God comes. For example, our attempt to live a life of Christ-following may not be so much about: Do not commit murder, Do not commit adultery, Honor your father and mother, Do not covet your neighbor’s wealth, Do not steal…for these commandments we feel we’ve checked off. These seem obvious to us. But what about: You shall have no other God before me.

This is a big one for me in my me-ness: You shall have no other God before me.

At face value, this command seems easy. I indigently shout, ‘but I serve and worship only Jesus’….until the quiet voice inside me whispers: your children – you adore and worship them. Your husband – you adore and worship him too. And what about ‘you’ – your needs seem to always get met. Do you really place no other gods before me?

What about Nick – the prodigal son who is now home? He’s a star – will you lay him down to Me?

What about Sarah – the joy of your heart and who is soon to leave for a university 12 hours away? Can you give her to Me?

What about Ray? – Would you give Me Ray or is he too precious to lay down to Me?

Easter weekend we celebrated the Saviour – His being the One. The I. The I am. The beginning and the end. Today is Wednesday and it’s been three days since the Easter celebration. I find myself in an ‘iworld’ again. It’s who we are, It’s who I am. I’m a broken girl (even though 54, still a girl), who every day, EVERY day needs a Saviour.

He was before me, He was here, He is here, He is risen, He will be here for me, Mee, I, you, Yu, us, i and me again. It’s ALL about You, Jesus.

13Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’

“This is my name forever,

the name you shall call me

from generation to generation.

Exodus 3:13-15