Whose You Are (and who you are)

My dear friend Jane Ryan, my chemo comrade who changed her address to Heaven and whom I eulogized when we celebrated her life down here, always said the same thing to me whenever I felt down or doubtful–Jane would say, “Remember whose you are, Angie.  Just remember whose you are.  You are the daughter of the King.”  And, well, that was that.  Then, she would move right on to whatever it was she wanted to talk about, seeming to somehow completely forget that we were both very, very ill.  Though it’s been several years since Jane’s transition from here, I still miss her terribly.  While her moving on was an unimaginable gain for her, it was a definite loss for those of us who loved her so.

Lately, I’ve felt the need to tell myself what Jane used to tell me, “Remember whose you are, Angie.”  Sometimes we have to do that–we have to speak words of life to/over ourselves.  My friend was so right; we are daughters of the King.  And, as people often say when looking for a job (their “livelihood”), what you know does tend to matter much, much less than who you know.  Yes, connections do matter so very much in this life–and they matter so very much more in the next life.  And there is simply nothing or no one that can trump my connection, that identity Jane was always so very quick to remind me of–I am indeed the King’s daughter.  And when you do belong to someone like him, like the King, I’m beginning to realize that there’s really no need to rush around all the time trying to figure yourself out or “find yourself” as so many of us tend to say.  There’s no need because it’s really not about us at all–it’s about our King.  Thus, the more we realize whose we are, the more we actually learn about who we are; we’re people who were cut from the King’s cloth–made from the outline of his very own, perfect being.

It really is his story…all of it here is.  And, since he is the King, the one in the ultimate power seat, he really doesn’t need us to write it.  The story will go on with or without any of his subjects.  The thing is, though, he wants us to be part of it all.  He wants us to bow down to him, willingly, and to serve him in the same manner–and he wants to give us all the benefits that do indeed go along with being his.  There’s a lyric from Hillsong that says (in reference to Jesus), “You didn’t want Heaven without us.”  Is there another king anywhere who would give up a perfect throne to save the lives of subjects whom the king foreknew would betray him to the point of death and a most cruel death at that?  I’ve certainly never found one.  What a king we have!  Yes, Jane was right indeed–always remember whose you are.