Identity?
Tuesday, January 16th, 2007“Pray
as hard as you can… for the world you want…”
A line
spoken by a dying man, named Kato, in Shadow Hearts 2, an RPG game
which was released several years ago.
Yup!
This line went straight into my mind right away after I finished
playing Shadow Hearts 2 (again? Geez… I’m insane!!!). Anyway,
this line is kinda touching, you know? I mean, Shadow Hearts 2
revolves around several big ideas and one of ‘em is… identity…
and that’s what I am going to talk about today, identity…
Now,
why the heck identity? There are a dang lot other important issues to
discuss, and out of all, why identity? ‘Cos we live in the world in
which humans interact each other forming culture and civilization
making them the most essential elements in this world. By taking this
notion into mind, we should then know that each human has their own
identity. The next question is, how should we define a certain
human’s identity? By look? Skin colour? Religion? Nationality?
Occupation? Well, if you really define one’s identity by such, you
are a sad, shallow guy, all rite. Human’s identity are way too
difficult to define. Who they are tomorrow might not be the same as
who they are today. You may be an Indonesian today, but several years
later, you may be an Australian or Singaporean, who knows? You are
student right now, but you won’t remain a student for the rest of
your life, rite? You may be a doctor, musician, or anything, I just
could care less.
Then,
standing in the midst of such questions, I started to think, who am
I? Or even, what am I? I am an Indonesian student and my religion is
Christian. So, who am I? What am I really? Then, I read these lines
when I played Shadow Hearts 2, “All of the memories that you have
shared with your friends… the experience you have fighting beside
your partners… those are what make you the way you are now.” Yes,
it is indeed difficult to define one’s identity. In the end, it is
us who understand ourselves the most. Every single moment that we
have experienced, every single value we have kept… those are our
identity. Fame, religion, status, wealth, occupation, nationality,
those are nothing but superficial matters. What matters the most are
behind them. When I am saying I am a Christian, then it’s not about
the religion that is printed on my identity card, it’s not about
the religion I write when I fill out a form, rather it’s about
everything that makes me a Christian. The moment I met God, all the
times I have spent in church ministry together with my partners in
God, those are my identity as a Christian.
Then,
is there any relation between this identity stuff with Shadow Hearts
2, the game that I played? Yes, there is. Let me type this line
again, “Pray as hard as you can for the world you want.” Before
going further, let me ask you another question, what do you think of
this world? Miserable? Hopeless? Ill? Sick? Well… I myself can’t
deny that this world is indeed sick, ill, miserable, hopeless, etc…
however, everything isn’t really as bad as you think. Why? ‘Cos
WE can change this world. Yup, you read it rite, WE can change this
world. We are humans, since the very beginning, we have defined our
culture, we have defined our civilization. However, everything has
changed. Nowadays, we just let culture and civilization define our
identity. That’s what makes this world pathetic. We have our own
identity, we have the power to define the culture. Then, why should
we just stay silent while the culture is dictating who we are? I say,
live your life your own way. Only this way, you can change this
world. ‘Cos this world won’t ever change if you just hide
yourself inside your convenience. Be yourself! Then dream! Hope! Let
everything start from you and you will see for yourself, how your
dream can change the world slowly.
Well,
is being yourself alone enough? Nah… you won’t believe that, will
ya? The rest thing you should do is to… pray… pray as hard as you
can for the world you want. You may have perseverance, diligence,
etc, but who cares? Those qualities are just not enough. You need to
pray. Now, don’t deny this! You know who is the mightiest existence
in this whole world? If you know that there is an existence so
powerful, why don’t you share your dream with Him? Pray… and let
everything start from you. One day, maybe you can see the world you
really want.
I
haven’t known yet what kind of world I really want. At least, this
I know, I am currently working for a kind of world. That’s why, I
want to live my life my own way. No one can define who I really am.
The experiences I have acquired together with God and my friends have
slowly started to show who I really am. Keh, yappari… kono sekai wa
warutakunai ne…
