I Am What I Am Becoming

The film Juno has some really great lines, but my favorite is when she confesses to her parents about being pregnant, her father says, "I thought you were the kind of girl who knew when to say when." She replies, "I don't really know what kind of girl I am."

What surprises me is that I, now into middle age, don't know what kind of man I am. Recently I learned one translation of the reply said to Moses when he asked a talking, burning bush, who he was. God said, "I am what I am becoming."

My old Lutheran bible has it as, "I am what I am." That translation is authoritative and permits no further questions. It was probably comforting to people wanting to believe in a fixed, omnipotent center of the Universe.

I prefer the idea of an evolving spirit. It fits better in my mind than a fixed God. Change is difficult, but also the most natural thing in the Universe. It makes us stronger.