Identify yourself!

Homily preached at Eltham College on 26th February 2008.

What’s the difference
between a geek and a nerd?

It would be really interesting
to see the job-descriptions
that separate these two subcultures.

Is a nerd
a geek that specialises in computers,
or is a geek
a nerd which has a greater sphere
of expertise over and above
information technology?

And where does the boffin fit into all this?


It’s an important problem
– we teachers have to get
the terminology right.

After all we don’t want to call you
a dweeb, dork or galoot
if the cap really doesn’t fit.


What about Emos and Goths?

What’s the difference between them?

You can understand
the elderly teacher’s concern.

He thinks that an Emo
is an overexcited glove puppet
that molests people.

What separates a Goth from being an Emo?

[PAUSE]

The Goth image is reasonably distinctive.

There’s the dyed black hair,
white make-up and eyeliner,
the black clothes
together with a penchant
for Marilyn Manson,
Black Ice or the Cure!

It’s interesting that you can see
a horde of Goths wandering down the street,
all looking identical,
like a bunch of clinically depressed penguins
all speaking in the same monotone
– “I am an individual.”


How can you fit so closely
in a crowd and expect
to be called an individual?


Surely an individual
is one who stands out from a crowd,
like a Goth with
flowing blond curls,
rosy cheeks
and a toothpaste smile
like a reject from
“Any dream will do.”


“But,” you cry,
“Goths don’t have blond hair and smiles.

You might just as well
have a triangle with four vertices.

It’s impossible!”


So just how does a Goth
express his individuality?

[PAUSE]

To those of us who are not Goths,
it may come as a complete surprise
to know that every Goth matters.

They are individuals,
just as you are individuals.

They still have unique thoughts,
ideas, plans, joys and sorrows.

We cannot accuse Goths of being the same
any more than
we can describe Westlife songs
from being the same
despite the fact that they are all
instantly forgettable
so that they register
the impression that
they are all identical.


What makes Goths appear the same
is that they strive for a common identity.

Do you do the same?

[PAUSE]

It’s fair to say that it’s something we all do.

We seek out people
of like minds and similar dispositions.

Why? – because we are social animals.

We are designed to forge relationships,
to share common experiences
and ultimately to find company
in which we can feel at home.

Even if we’re not especially social,
we nonetheless have a need
for a close-knit group of friends
around us whom we can trust.

“No man is an island, entire of itself.”


It is said that our social groups define us,
but to what extent is it true?

Are you defined by your social group?

[PAUSE]

What does that really mean?

Well, you might be black.

But does that word “black” sum you up?

Of course it doesn’t!

Indeed, the word “black”
only becomes racist
if it’s used to somehow sum people up
-to deny them an identity.

That’s how insults work.

“Jamaican” might narrow the field a little further,
but “Jamaican” still doesn’t
sum you up
any more than English
Ghanean,
Burkinabe,
Zambian,
Or Ethiopian.

You’re more than that.

Can you,
with all your human complexity
be summed up
by a collection of adjectives?

Can even your name pick you out of a crowd?
Doubtful, especially if your name is John Smith.


The Queen certainly stands out from a crowd.

Why?

How can a little old lady stand out so far?

It’s because of the identity that we give her.

As monarch
she stands for Great Britain,
she gives a focus
to our national identity.

She’s not German as some people think.

She,
like her father
and grandfather
and great-grandfather,
was born in this country.


The whole British constitution
is inveigled with her standing
for the whole British Nation.
Her identity as monarch only exists
because we, as her subjects,
choose to recognise that identity.

In recognising her identity as Queen
do we recognise our identity of being British.

For Catholics,
there is the person of the Pope,
who is called the Vicar of Christ.

The word “vicar” literally means “stand-in.”

Catholics hold the Pope
to embody the identity
of Our Lord Himself
through a long line of successors
to the first Pope, St Peter.

Again, the idea that a man
has this identity hinges
on whether others accept this identity.


What about us?

We are not Royal Blood.


Nor are we clad, at the moment,
in the robes of cardinals
so we do not have these identities.

How, then, is who we are
truly defined?

[PAUSE]

Our identities as human beings
are largely defined by our interactions
with other people.

We learn more about our own identity
by being social animals.

If we want to be
decent,
kind,
generous and likeable people
then we have to work at being
decent,
kind,
generous and likeable people
through clear and visible acts
of decency,
kindness and generosity.


It is only through
loving our neighbours
that we can truly learn to love ourselves,
and you don’t have to be a Christian
to see that this is true.

[PAUSE]

To sum up a human being with
a mere collection of adjectives
is a true insult
and dehumanising.

There is always an extent
to which each human being has an identity
which is unknowable to everyone.


Christians would say
that is the identity with which God created us,
and the same identity
which Our Lord took paints
to identify Himself with us.

Who are you?

How will you come to know your
true identity better?