Be True…to Yourself

“This above all: to thine own self be true” (Polonius to his son Laertes in Shakespeare’s Hamlet).

Long before Polonius gave this piece of advice to his son who was on his way to escape from his father’s long-winded speeches, the apostle Paul had given the faithful at Corinth the advice to abide in their calling (1Co.7:20). Why is it necessary to be true to ourselves? Let me try to answer that question with an incident that occurred more than fifty years ago but which is still fresh in my mind.

When I was young my parents gave me a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle for Christmas. The completed puzzle was an amazing picture of World War II English battleships being hammered by bombs from enemy aircrafts. With blue seas and azure skies, a great portion of the picture was bluish in color. This of course was intentional because it added to the complexity of the puzzle. But I got it done and proudly displayed it in a corner of the room for all to see. Then one day I entered the room and noticed that a piece of the blue sky was missing. Earlier that day I had a fight with a younger sibling and his revenge for losing was to discard a piece of my puzzle. I found the piece days later in a muddy pool of slush outside the house. Apparently he had tossed it out of the window. I was heartbroken. The picture was not the same without that piece. I even tied to cut and color-match pieces of cardboard but nothing could replace that piece. The fake piece was the first thing that caught the eyes of anyone who walked in that room and saw the puzzle. Angry and frustrated, I broke the puzzle, packed it in the box, and raised the white flag.

But the loss of this puzzle was not in vain. As I grew older and the forces of life and nature began to pull and push me in different directions concerning life and career choices, that missing piece and its impact on the whole puzzle had become a guiding hand to keep me focused and aligned with my calling. The missing piece reminded me that every one of us is unique and irreplaceable. Who would think that one of a thousand pieces could make such a difference to the whole? Yet it did. We may try to find substitutes but these will never replace the original.

Let us learn then that even though the rich and famous may make us feel insignificant and dispensable, the world needs every one of us. You are unique. Check your fingerprints. Examine your DNA. And there is a reason for this. God made you that irreplaceable blue piece. No one can fill the space created for you. And so if we despise our gift, and we do so when we try to be like someone else, not only will we deprive the world of a resource it needs for its wholeness, but we will find ourselves in a state of constant discontent that will lead to what Henry David Thoreau refers to as “lives of quiet desperation.”        

So Polonius was right. “And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” Who we are in and to ourselves is who we will be to the world. If we deceive ourselves we will deceive the world. If we love ourselves we will demonstrate love to others. The presentation of the real me to the world is directly correlated to my self-acceptance. So abide in your calling. Love yourself. Appreciate your gift and press hard into it. The world needs you.

1 Comment

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Rev. Dr. Stephen Georgereply
February 22, 2020 at 6:13 am

Beautiful word, just for me, dear Pastor RupNarain. Be blessed dear man of God. I must never forget the first Call of God upon my life is for myself and my household. Thanks a million, dear man of God. Please keep me in your prayers, that having done all, I must STAND. I just returned from speaking in an All Scandinavia Prayer Conference.
Stephen George.

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