Know Thyself

“The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.” This, from the same man who said the most important thing was to “Know thyself.” Socrates was the man, and knowledge was not just his profession and hobby, it was his life.  I’ve been thinking about Socrates’ words lately. I guess it’s been triggered by a few things, some direct, some more indirect. A dozen years ago this past summer, I spent time in Athens, Greece, home to Socrates. I walked the streets he walked, stood on the steps of the buildings he haunted, gazed out across the Mediterranean the way I’m sure he must have. I was reminded of the way he had of encouraging his followers to think, to dig deeply inside, to think for themselves.  I’ve never forgotten how it felt to walk in his footsteps—literally and figuratively.  I felt like I knew myself a little better, just for walking those streets.

The other night I stumbled across an episode of Rick Steves’ Europe about Athens.

Seeing again the places Socrates had walked and talked put me in mind of a get acquainted exercise I like to play with my students at the beginning of the school year, an exercise I learned at an interdenominational prayer service while visiting Wake Forest University when I was in college. You pair off with someone you don’t know and

ask each other three questions, alternating with each other: Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? The exercise isn’t as simple as it might seem. With each successive question, you have to dig deeper to give an answer. You start off with your name and where you are from. But the next time you have to say something less superficial. You have to say something about who you really are, something about what is meaningful to you.  By the time you get to the third question, you are reaching into your inner core,

looking for something strong and positive to say about yourself, looking for something

that says something about you that will make an impression, a good one. By now, you know yourself a little better, and so does your partner.

My last brush with Socrates came from an Oprah interview with the author of a book entitled What are You Doing with the Rest of Your Life? The title caught my attention, as did the list of questions and activities Oprah, the author, and the audience were going to focus on for the next hour. “What is your life’s mission?” Oprah asked. “If you were to die today, what would you have given to those left here on earth?” “If you had only one month to live, how would you put your life in order? What would you have to do? What would you want to do?” Sobering questions.  Deep questions. Difficult questions. But questions which must be addressed if we are to know ourselves, and if we are to be happy and satisfied with the life we have. And questions that seem especially apropos to us today.

Paula Harden, the author of the book, suggested that we need to recognize that life has a pattern, and that it is important for us to examine our lives, see where we are amidst that general pattern, and then determine what we have to do in order to be happy. She said that we need to get serious about life, that we need to live every moment intentionally—with purpose and power.  Recognizing that such knowledge, such recognition doesn’t come easily, she had the audience do several activities to assist them in their assessment. First, she had them fill four sheets of paper, each with a different heading: “What I want to do,” “What I want to be,” “What I want to have,” and “What I want to give.” Money, time, or ability were not to be objects. The sheets were to be filled with every possibility and dream, bar none.  Ms. Harden then had the audience write their own obituary. That’s right. Their own obituary. The important thing was not when or how they had died, of course. But how they had lived. What had they accomplished with their life up to that point? What good had they done—for the people around them, for themselves? Had they realized their potential? Were they even close? What direction were they traveling in at the moment of their passing? 

Morbid as this activity seems, I’d like to recommend it to you all the same. In reality, it’s not looking at the end of your life. It’s looking at your life’s progress to this point (in much the same way a child’s academic progress report looks at their academic progress). It’s an objective examination of the things you’ve accomplished in the time you’ve been given thus far.  The value in this research should be obvious. By so knowing your past self, you are better able to approach and discipline your present self, so you can make plans for your future self. By so knowing yourself, you are better able to find your way to a happier life. By being honest with yourself in this exploration, you are more likely to find the success you are hoping for in your future.

There is another who walked the streets of Athens who also had a lot to say about knowing ourselves, and about the legacy we leave behind us when our time on earth is done.  Paul the Apostle famous compared our life’s journey to a race.  In his second letter to Timothy, he encouraged him to leave a strong and positive legacy behind when his race is finished.  He encouraged him to live so that at the end, he would say, like Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now, a crown is being held for me—a crown for being right with God.  The Lord, the judge who judges rightly, will give the crown to me on that day—not only to me but to all those who have waited with love for Him to come again”(II Timothy 4:7-8).

“Know thyself.” How well do you really know yourself? Who are you anyway? Are you something more than a father, mother, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandparent, child, friend, church member? Are you something more than a supporter of Christian Education? Are you something more than the sum of your friends, than the product of your parents? Are you something more than the shape you have been given at home, at work, at church? “Know thyself.” Socrates was right. We cannot live until we know who we are, where we have been, and where we are going. Do you know?