SENTINEL WATCH January 12, 2004 Issue

Children of God—whatever nationality

By Tony Lobl

I was recently taken through an exercise where I had to write down all the labels with which I associate myself: from nationality to religious affiliation; from my roles as son, brother, husband, uncle, friend to my roles as office manager and frequent scribe for this magazine.

I was then asked to think beyond all those labels and identify myself as just one thing—a child of God. It felt liberating to identify myself only in terms of my spiritual nature as God's creation. It didn't negate the value of the roles I play in expressing that spirituality. But it freed me from identifying myself merely as an accumulation of material self-definitions. That, in turn, freed me to think of other people in a more spiritual light.

This might be a helpful exercise for my fellow Europeans to join me in. The label "European," which individuals in the European Union (EU) are increasingly adopting, is still at odds in the minds of many with sovereign labels some are reticent to see losing ground. Pressure is mounting as consideration has been given to a European constitution, along with this May's enlargement of the EU to include 25 member states. What are we going to consider ourselves first? Europeans? Or Brits, Germans, Swedes, Greeks, etc.?

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

Search for identity, higher purpose, restores a family