George Santos. We have heard or read that name often if we have listened to T.V. news, or read a newspaper in the past week. His name first appeared in national news when he won a seat in U.S. Congress as a California Representative.
But it soon began…charges about his lying and fabricating his resume. One writer suggested that he “fabricated his entire life story:” Lying about graduating from a prestigious private high school and two colleges, none of which had any record of attendance. Lying about where he had work, etc. What got my most emotional response was his claim his grandparents were Jews from Ukraine who fled Brazil to escape the Nazis. No genealogical records show any trace of Jewish heritage…he was running for congress from a heavily Jewish district.
One writer, responding to all this, urged that we not forget that for years Senator Elizabeth Warren claimed to be a Cherokee.
All of this has brought to mind a passage from Herb Gardner’s play, A Thousand Clowns. An uncle tells of what he wants for his nephew: “I just want him to stay with me till I can be sure he won’t turn into a Norman Nothing. I want to be sure he’ll know when he’s chickening out on himself.” I keep reminding myself of Augustine’s word, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, our heart is restless until it rests in you.”
As persons created in the image of God, fulfillment and growth are dependent upon our capacity to affirm ourselves. This self-affirmation comes from an awareness and an acceptance of the many sidedness of our being. We are able to recognize and affirm our weakness and strength, our concern and apathy, our hopes and fears, our potentials for creativity and destructiveness. We are aware that we are all these things, and yet we are not “a Norman Nothing,” we are a unique unrepeatable miracle of God.
Woodrow Wilson was a man of great personal gifts. He was not, however, the best-looking fellow in the world, and he knew it. He was fond of quoting the limerick of Anthony Euwer:
“As a beauty I’m not a great star,
There are others more handsome by far;
But my face I don’t mind it
Because I’m behind it
‘Tis the folks out in front that I jar.
This may be a negative approach, but it is a necessary condition for growth. Self-affirmation involves accepting our limitations.
But it also involves the other side of the coin, honest assessment in recognizing our potential; not only to accept our limitations, but to be aware of our potential. In the Christian view of reality we are never fulfilled, and complete meaning is not ours until we use the gifts God gives us to serve Him and human kind. Paul, the New Testament writer, was rather dogmatic about it. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else. (Gal. 6:3-4)