Individuality

E. E. Cummings, the innovative American poet put into words an idea that lurks in the mind of all who are unwilling to give up their individuaity for the comfort of anonymity. He wrote, "To be nobody but yourself in a world that is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting." I find his strong desire not to be suffocated by group think extremely refreshing. Let’s think about it.
       That relational ties are strong and normally beneficial is accepted, but there is a point at which an over emphasis can have a negative impact on the individuality of the person. I believe it to be true that we were made for one another, but that does not mean that we were made to be like one another. The strongest ties in life are based on mutual respect, not the comfort of fitting in. The Christian faith believes that God has an eternal and personal relationship with individuals, not groups. I have never turned to God in prayer and found that he is out of town or busy at some other task. He is my friend and gives me as an individual his total attention. 
     “How can that be?” you ask, “since to be fair he would have to have the same relationship with others?” Right! He does, and that is because he is infinite. He put us in groups for the nurture and well-being of society, but only because he knows that we are able to  maintain our individuality, even in the deep relationships of life. 
       You may ask, “Who are you to make such sweeping assertions about God?” I do not hold that my “assertions” are necessarily right or that there is nothing else that can be said on the subject. They are what I have come to believe from the experiences of life. They are not revealed truth. 
       I believe in Cummings’ view that fighting to stay who we are is extremely difficult. It is a struggle against the innate tendency to exchange freedom for the false security of group think. To yield to the existing social forces that destroy genuine authentiicity is a tragic loss. To withstand the pressure to conform calls for absolute  commitment to a noble cause, that is, becoming who God intended us to be for his glory. Since our ultimate enemy knows that Spirit-guided thinking undermines his influence, what do you think he does about it? He certainly will encourage  mindless conformity to “what we all think.”