“Who Are You?”
theophilus December 7th, 2008
I was at a dinner party the other night, and an older gentleman who has been married for a very long time revealed to the table a conversation he had with his wife a few years back. (His wife was not present at the dinner when he told this story.)
During this conversation from the past, she evidently leaned across the table, looked him in the eye, and inquired of him – “who are you?”. It was meant as a real question as to who this man had become; this man with whom she shared her life.
The table laughed, some more knowingly than others. At the table were some who had seen their marriage come and go. In their eyes, I saw a memory recalled of conversations long ago in which they asked or had asked of them much of the same question.
And I wonder, how many of us should ask this question or have this question asked of us by our spouses?
“Who are we?”
Do we really know the person with whom we share our lives? Do they know us? Do we realize that they grow and change, go through trials and tribulations of which we may be unaware, question us, pray for us, marvel at us, love us?
And sometimes, they ask the question of us, “who are you?”
And that is when we need to start worrying. When we’ve become such an enigma to our spouses that they do not know who we are.
Advent is a time to awaken to Christ. It is also a time to awaken to who we are, and to who others are, especially those with whom we love and share our lives. And for our own good, it is time for others to awaken to who we are; good or bad.
And if this awakening is bad, then it is time for us to change. I assume the older gentleman telling the story the other night changed. He didn’t like the question from his wife (and probably didn’t like the answer either), and he loved his wife enough to make sure the question was never asked again.
So, what’s the answer if you would ask the question of your spouse tonight? What is the answer if your spouse would ask the question of you?
“Who are you?”
