[February 1999 journal entry]
While out on a practice drive with my daughter, we talked about her careful study of Charlotte Bronte’s novels/characters (as well as the character Anne in Anne of Green Gables and the character Jo in Little Women). I asked her if she thinks her sense of self has been and is enhanced by these novels/characters. I also asked if she finds herself trying to be the characters with whom she most identifies. I later related these two questions to what it means to ‘follow Jesus’. I proposed that to ‘follow Jesus’ in the latter sense of trying to ‘be Jesus’ diminishes one’s self, is artificial, and is not redemptive in an experiential sense. Instead, I proposed that to ‘follow Jesus’ in the former sense of having your sense of self enriched by carefully considering Jesus’ way of being is redemptive without diminishing one’s self.
