The True Point of Beginning as used in reference to real property is defined as "a surveyor's mark at the beginning location for the wide-scale surveying of land". In my estimation, it is the finite point by which all other points are defined by reference.
God has been speaking to me a lot about identity as of late. In prayer a couple weekends back, I felt an overwhelming sadness for people who simply do not know who they actually are (that includes me), who they were created to be. I sense the extent of my spirituality may be revealed more clearly in this post, than in posts past, but bear with me. The sadness I felt was not my own. I do not have the capacity to see or comprehend who people think they are, let alone who they ought to be. It was something much larger and more true than what I am able to conjure. As a parent, I would compare it to watching your child struggle in life, when you know their potential. You want to jump in and plead with your child so they would see it clearly, see who they are, see all that they are capable of, and then, possibly, punch anyone in the face that says otherwise. Maybe you are not as prone to violence as I am, maybe you are; I can only hope I am not alone.
Earlier this week, I was feeling nostalgic and decided to find teachings on YouTube by individuals whom I had grown up listening to at a retreat my family was connected with. On an aside, I feel incredibly blessed that I was able to sit under such incredible teachings in my youth. Just brain melting type stuff really; in a good way, of course. One such teaching by one of my absolute favorites, Fr. Jim Nisbet (Google him, he will not disappoint), discussed this idea that we actually move backward in time, as compared to God. Stay with me, I promise that this is really good and not too terribly confusing.
Picture the final version of you at the end of your life. The version that has been through the trials and the joys; the miracles and the disappointments; the love and the loss. The version that stands before the Almighty and hears the words "Well done, my good and faithful [servant/son/daughter/whatever least offends you]." That version.
Now, picture with me a golden line (you can pick any color, but I like the glowyness of gold) that starts at the final you and races back through time as your life; and creating that line is the fingertip of God. As God traces out the path of your life, being outside of time and all, He is able to take THE path whose end result is the version of you standing in front of Him and it is then that He calls you into time, via your mothers womb. So as not to confuse the matter with ideas of predestination and free will, the larger scope of this idea is that this path is based upon the choices we have and will make and that God in His infinite wisdom put us in the chronological time and geological location that will best lead us to Him. See Acts 17:26-27 (ESV) wherein it says:
"And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him."
Now, I don't know the theology behind this specific idea, and for the purposes of both this blog and Fr. Nisbet's teaching, it matters not. The fact remains that God is outside of time, and who He says you are is based upon experience, not hope. Did you get that? Regardless of whatever your past says, or your parents say, or your teachers say, or your enemies say, or even your friends for that matter; the fact remains that God's present reality of who you are is there at the point where you stand before Him at the end of this life.
I would submit to you therefore that the True Point of Beginning, the finite point by which all other points in this life find their meaning, is found at the end of your life, when God can scoop you up into His arms and place you into eternity with Him.
While we race along this golden thread we call life, we have the opportunity to embrace who God created us to be, to find our true purpose, if only we would open our ear and heart to hear Him. So long as we move on a path that does not match up with the True Point of Beginning version of ourselves, He provides opportunities to course correct; and as we struggle to remain someone that we simply are not created to be, He patiently waits, loving us, yet wanting to jump in and plead with us so that we would see it clearly, see who we are, see all that we are capable of, and then, possibly, punch anyone in the face that says otherwise.
Ok, maybe not that last part. But I can hope.
