One of my favorite television procedurals would have to be TNT's Rizzoli and Isles. It's so much fun to see the two protagonists love, lose, chat it up, and make hilarious jokes about each other all while shooting homicide suspects, examining cadavers and solving murders. It's definitely a winning combination for me. But this post isn't about my love for certain programs, far from it. Instead, I saw a wonderful idea to contemplate from last week's episode of the show (as well as in many other of my favorites.
To make a long story short: At the end of the episode, Jane Rizzoli's mother (played by Lorraine Bracco) faces a mini identity crisis. Mrs. Rizzoli cries that her marriage ended in divorce, that she works a dead end job, and that she lives in the guest house of her daughter's best friend's home. Her material prospects seem hopeless and she cannot find her true worth amidst the apparent shambles of her life. Naturally, the other characters quickly reassure her that she does in fact have worth. They say she was a wonderful mother to them as well as a beautiful person, amongst other things. Then the episode ends.
This tends to be a common theme for many television characters. Blanche Deveraux of "The Golden Girls" repeatedly finds obstacles to her identity as a woman irresistible to men when facing the prospects of growing old, being called a grandmother, going through menopause, and even meeting women more attractive than herself. Lisa Simpson must be the only intellectual in Springfield, lest she lose that one thing that makes her whom she is. Countless superhero characters face such a crisis when they temporarily lose their powers. Hell, even Spongebob Squarepants forgets himself when circumstance requires him to wear round pants instead of square.
But what is all of this telling us? It is showing a significant flaw in our human condition. So many of us (myself included) go through life building our identity based off of material conditions and characteristics of our egos than on the fundamental truth of who we really are: the Children of God; "and if children, then Heirs: Heirs of God and Co-Heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17).
Ultimately, Mrs. Rizzoli's children are correct in reassuring her that she is so much more than a broke divorcee working at a police station cafe. She was (and is) the rock that held her family together, the source of love overflowing for those near her and a good friend when the times were tough. They pointed out what is true and unchanging about her, what proves her true mettle and makes her great.
We should all be reminded the same. Whether or not you take your temporal identity from your family, your career, your beauty, your wealth, your marriage, your sexual orientation, your race, your religious affiliation, your power, or even from the fact that you wear square pants over any other kind out there, the point is that all of us are truly blessed, even when times truly are the worse for wear.
The fact that material or ego based conditions that build up our sense of self change, only proves that there is far more to each of us than what meets the eye. We can be as big and bright and beautiful as we want to be. Let us shine like suns and not worry about illusions.
We are made in the image and likeness of God. Let us celebrate that instead.
LVX Amor!
