Change in values?

I have two friends who recently posted pictures on Facebook that I appeared in. The first picture is from 1998, my freshman year in college,

and the second picture is from two years ago, right before I graduated from seminary.

And for a point of reference, here is a picture of me now -

My point in showing these "fantastic" pictures of me is to note that I can remember those times like they were yesterday, yet I know how much of a different person I was then compared to now. I can't quite put my finger on how and why I think of myself as a different person, but I know that what I thought, what I believed, what I wanted, and what I hoped for were entirely different things in each of these three snapshots of my life. In addition to looking different, I just feel different than I did then.

So what is the concrete, immutable me? Is there a part of us that doesn't change? Are we the same person and it's just our external pressures and environment changes, or are we truly a million different people from one day to the next?

Who are we and who are we going to be? Do those things have to be mutually exclusive?

What is our true identity?

Discuss: Art, Kids and God

Tonight for unTapped we will continue our discussion about art and beautuy as well as discuss the legitimacy and reality of childhood spiritual experiences.

hope to see you at Short's, tonight at 7:00pm

Earliest Memories

Yesterday was a fantastic day to celebrate Easter. It was beautiful out in Northern Michigan - the birds are returning, the snow has melted, and green things are just around the corner.

We took my daughter outside to find eggs in the yard. She LOVED it. My son (10 mo.) didn't quite grasp the concept but my daughter, she was in her glory. At nearly 3 years old she is doing some pretty incredible stuff and I'm loving watching it happen.

I told someone at work about this this morning and she said, "My boys talk about the first outdoor easter egg hunt they did when they were three or four...right around the same age as your girl."

Then I made the strange connection/realization that my daughter might actual retain some of the memories she experiences these days. Up until this point, I was pretty sure she wasn't going to remember the time we got stuck in the mud while driving. At least, I figured she wouldn't remember it when she was in her twenties so it wouldn't come back to haunt me.

Nope. Now she remembers things and she's starting to build up a memory of her life.

I talked to another friend about something that happened to us in college and he said, "Wow, I don't really remember that. I guess a little bit, but I don't remember it like you do."

Why do we hold on to some memories more than others?

No unTapped this Week

We won't be meeting this week for unTapped. But, feel free to swing by Short's anyway.