ZAMBITI VA ROG

Who are you?

A woman in a coma was dying. She suddenly had a feeling that she was taken up to heaven and stood before the Judgment Seat.
“Who are you?” a voice said to her.
“I’m the wife of the mayor,” she replied.
“I did not ask whose wife you are but who you are.”
“I’m the mother of four children.”
“I did not ask whose mother you are, but who you are.”
“I’m a schoolteacher.”
“I did not ask what your profession is but who you are.”
And so it went. No matter what she replied, she did not seem to give a satisfactory answer to the question, “Who are you?”
“I’m a Christian.”
“I did not ask what your religion is but who you are.”
“I’m the one who went to church every day and always helped the poor and needy.”
“I did not ask you what you did but who you are.”
She evidently failed the examination, for she was sent back to earth. When she recovered from her illness, she was determined to find out who she was. And that made all the difference.

Fragment from the book Taking Flight by Anthony De Mello.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 by noryshor and is filed under povestiri, quotes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Who are you?”

1. Milishor says:
   05/06/2008 at
   

   A very wise question…who are we and what defines us..now you made me curious about my answer..:)

   Reply
2. Cristi says:
   09/05/2008 at
   

   yes indeed. Who we are is not determined by labels, resume, social roles… It should be about what and how we feel, what we actually do, how we interact with people around us…

   nice story :)

   Reply