“Selfie” is a new word for us, or as new as the smartphone anyway. The average age of a selfie taker is 24. Women take 1.5 times more selfies than men. We take lots of selfies today, 92 million a day in fact, which is 4 percent of all photos taken. There is even a national selfie day, June 21st. Most of this is just harmless fun. I do find it interesting that as soon as this technology became available, we turned it on ourselves.
Why do we take so many selfies? Is it just narcissism? Or perhaps in a culture increasingly devoid of meaning it is a way of saying “I exist, and it matters.” Some of us take more pictures of ourselves than we do of other people or things. We even filter or doctor the image to make ourselves look as attractive as possible. I took this picture four times, but every time I checked, alas, it was still just me. Eh, we work with what we got, right? Self-absorption is a terrible thing that cripples us as people. But self-reflection is a good and necessary part of being human.
When you photograph yourself what, exactly, have you taken a picture of? What are you? What is the SELF? I am not really expecting an answer from you. Theologians and philosophers have been kicking that around since before Plato and, as far as I can see, there is no real consensus in any camp. But it is safe to say that there is more to you than meets the eye, or what you can see in a selfie. When you see your face in the mirror you know that there is more than just biology looking back at you. It takes years of lies to convince us otherwise.
Richard Dawkins famously said, “DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.” But no one has ever lived as if that were true. No one ever will. If we are just individual piles of cells walking about then are we are of no more consequence than a snail. Tigers and tarantulas are both marvelous creatures, but they do not ponder their existence, they do not self-reflect. You do. You are a spiritual being whether you believe it or not.
The bible boldly declares that men and women are both made in “the image of God.” It also says that after he formed man, he “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” It is as if the Almighty formed us, and then awakened us with a kiss. Far more intimate and meaningful than any other version of how we became us.
So, what are we? When I am sitting at the pub and I look around the room at all my fellow patrons chatting, smiling, eating, arguing, staring at their phones; what am I seeing? Are they all just soulless material dancing to their DNA? Are they just crabs in a bucket? Do I owe them anything? Courtesy? Sympathy? Allegiance? Love? Why?
We know instinctively that our eyes are not falling on just other carbon-based life forms that may as well be a tree or a beetle. We are seeing families out for their once-a-week treat so dad can have a beer while the kids gobble wings and fries. We are seeing lovers on a second date still trying to figure each other out: “do I trust him?”, “do I want her?”. We are seeing relationships ending or beginning. We are seeing lonely people. Tired people. We are witnessing strife, bitterness, love, boredom, joy, and light-heartedness, all in the same room. We are seeing the old, full of wisdom with no one to give it to; and the young, full of certainty yet still afraid.
Do I owe them anything? Must I sacrifice for any of them? Perhaps even die for them? When we observe the complicated dance of human interaction that we all engage in at a dozen different levels every day we know we are observing more than DNA. You are not just a sack of cells. We are always reaching out to each other, needing each other. Communicating without words; feeling each other’s presence. We cannot avoid our obligation to each other. Social contract theory cannot explain this. This is written in our hearts. This is the image of God.
God became a human to redeem humanity. To put us back on the trajectory we were made for. To share in the divine image, as a member of the divine family; what theologians call glorification. To glow with the fire and life of the Son of God.
Be careful with each other. Love is patient and kind, and I am terrible at it. I will have to give an account one day for how I treated people. How I spoke about them, and to them. Why is it so important to God that I treat you with honor, with respect, with gentleness and dignity? Because ultimately you are worth more than the stars.
You are God’s selfie.