“In Louisville, at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the center of the shopping district, I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was like waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world, the world of renunciation and supposed holiness...This sense of liberation from an illusory difference was such a relief and such a joy to me that I almost laughed out loud...I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”
--Thomas Merton
I came across this reading during a Chaplain’s gathering last week, having not read it since my time in Seminary. As I re-read this passage last week, I experienced it anew, resonating in particular with the line: “There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”
Merton gives voice to God’s vision for us all—the vision that all human beings are filled and connected with a unifying light that shines like the sun. At
St. Mark’s our Episcopal Identity calls us to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being,” so that all people may experience the vision and sense of belonging Merton describes on the corner of Fourth and Walnut. Seeking justice and peace, while respecting the dignity of every human being, is a delicate balance and an essential part of our mission at St. Mark’s School.
Last week, as we began our study of Christianity, my students participated in what is called the Identity Iceberg, an exercise adapted from a lesson at the Anti-defamation league. The Iceberg lesson teaches that only 13 percent of an iceberg can be seen above the water. The exercise asks students and teachers to view their identities through this lens. In our discussion, students list many of those visible traits—such as physical characteristics and personality traits we are eager to display to others—that lie above the surface. However, if only 13 percent of who we are can be seen by the world, the remaining 87 percent of our identities lies hidden beneath the surface. As each student worked to describe their identities below the surface, an audible silence filled the room. As one student shared later, “I never realized how much we all carry beneath the surface each day.”
Jesus’ teachings throughout the Gospels reminded the community that God sees all of us, the entire iceberg, and, despite our efforts to hide those parts of us we don’t wish others to see, we are united through these struggles, fears, doubts, and burdens floating beneath the surface. May we find ways to affirm and express our shared identities, finding courage in the conviction that we are all children of God whose love shines as bright as if “we were all walking around shining like the sun.”
