BIBLE: Genesis I
27. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.

SWEDENBORG
The Divine is the same in the greatest and the smallest things. (Divine Love and Wisdom n.77)

So long as man is spiritual, his dominion proceeds from the external man to the internal ..  But when he becomes celestial, and does good from love, then his dominion proceeds from the internal man to the external...  [Heavenly Secrets, #2]

The Divine fills all space of the universe w/o being bound by space. [Divine Love and WIsdom, #69]

 

MESSAGE AND MOVIE

 

"Just who do you think you are?"

“Just who do you think you are?” How often has someone asked you that question? It’s usually in a context of thinking you have done something that is beyond the bounds of who you really are and the role you should play.

But it is also a very serious question. Who are you? We don’t think too much about it day by day. Of course, most of us go through a few years as teen-agers when we are trying to figure that out. The questions come again for most of us in middle age, as the “mid-life crisis” leaves us unsure of who we are.

However, some people have to face this question in the midst of extreme trauma; when they have lost all that they were, and don’t know yet who they are becoming.

A survivor of a stroke or traumatic brain injury often has that experience. There are a number of true stories that have come out in the past few years: A Stroke of Insight and The Butterfly and the Diving Bell are two examples. A movie that tells this story quite dramatically is “Regarding Henry.” It is based on a true story.

Henry was a successful lawyer. He made a great deal of money, and didn’t care about what ethical compromises it took to make his money. He had little time for his family; he needed to make money. But in a sudden, tragic moment, Henry is changed forever. He gets in the way of a bullet during a convenience store robbery. Henry is in a coma for quite awhile. When he comes out, he doesn’t know who he is or who the women is who claims to be his wife; or the little girl who calls him “Daddy.”

The movie takes us through those early harrowing days in treatment as Henry again learns to eat and to talk. Finally he is able to go home.

Everyone waits for Henry to become Henry again. But Henry cannot remember much about who he was. And what he does remember is a life he no longer wants. In the movie, we see him trying to work in the law firm again, trying to socialize with the legal community. He becomes extremely discouraged and depressed; realizing he does not know who he is.

His wife contacts the rehab center, and asks Henry’s former physical therapist to drop by for a visit. The scene below is the conversation between them; a turning point in Henry’s life.
 

 

Enjoy the following scene.  It starts at about 4.30 [although watching from the beginning helps to set the situation.]  It finishes about 7.40.

 

 

You can also read a description of the scene.  This is a movie review from a spiritual perspective.  About half-way down is a section called "A Teaching Scene from Regarding Henry."  It is a description of the scene that plays above.

 
Henry has to stop trying to be what he once was. He can only be who he is now. And he can only find out who that is when he lets go of his own self. Many survivers of TBI have to grieve their former self. It is a death. Yet, only by accepting death can one truly live.
Have you had times like that in your life? Have you had to let go of something that you cling to as being “you”, when perhaps it is an outer shell, rather than the essence of “you.”

It is never an easy journey. Yet, we are all called to leave darkness behind when we respond to the warmth of the light. As we are awakened on the spiritual journey, we have to let go of the old self. Only then, can God help mold us into a true human-Divine partnership.

We are most ourselves when we allow God into our hearts, to guide and shape our identity. In the end, we realize that we are not so much leaving something behind, as we are expanding our awareness – with the inclusion of the Divine.
Henry makes a lot less money in the end. But he is happier than he ever was. He has begun his own process of regeneration or rebirth.
 

CLOSING SONG