We live in an era in which often a person is not identified by his/her name and surname, but by an Alpha-numerical Code, whether a Tax or Passport Number, or a User ID or Access Code, depending on the circumstances. Even in hospitals nowadays, at least here in Italy, when it’s your turn to be called into the doctor’s room, they don’t use your name any longer, but a serial number, due to “privacy laws”! Right or wrong, those who have been forced in a hospital bed know how it feels to be considered a “medical record” rather than a patient.
The consequence is that, unfortunately, one of the worst plagues that is afflicting our generation today is the “loss of identity”! Most people don’t really know “who” they are, as individuals, and they are struggling to describe themselves or to answer questions such as, “Who am I?” or “Why am I here?” or “What am I to do in life?”.
Even nature, however, teaches us that each one of us is unique and special! Take identical twins, for example. They might resemble each other in almost everything, but… they have something unique that sets them apart from each other: their fingerprints! That’s the reason why, in countries like mine, today is not enough to fill up and submit a form in order to get a passport, but you have to go down to a police station that is equipped to electronically take your fingerprint. That’s because there is no other person exactly like you in the entire world! There has never been one before, nor there will ever be one in the future!
You came into the world to leave your individual mark and make a difference that only you can make! No one else has your DNA, your family lineage, the characteristics that you inherited at birth, or the history and life experiences that have made you “who” you are today: the special person created and equipped for an unique purpose that was especially prepared for you, even before you were born!
In the Scriptures it’s written that, “before you were formed in the belly, and came out of your mother’s womb, you were ordained…” (Jer. 1:5). “God formed my inward parts and covered me in my mother’s womb. I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are His works. My frame was not hidden from Him when I was made in secret. His eyes saw my unformed substance; and in His book were written all the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16).
“We are God’s workmanship, created for the good works, which He had before prepared that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). We are each “called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28), the special and unique project that God has prepared for each one of us.
At times, to understand “who we are” and “why we are here,” it’s necessary to read our life from the beginning and see how we were equipped to fulfill our destiny. In the first chapter of my autobiography (entitled “A bench and a window in every life!”), I wrote how, just a little over 39 years ago, I was sitting on a bench, 1000 miles away from my parent’s home, with my heart filled with hurt and desperation and wondering if my life had any reason to be lived, or whether I should put an end to it…
You might wonder how did I ever reach that bench at the young age of 19? To answer that question, I will need to go back in time to before I was born and tell you my story from the beginning. Incredible as it might seem for a young man to have burned so many bridges at such a young age, there were questions about life that I had ever since my childhood, and then throughout my adolescence, that neither my parents, teachers or friends were able to answer! It was a quest for real meaning that eventually led me to leave everything behind, home, school, family, friends, in search for a reason to live…
Now that I have grandchildren, I wonder if they will have questions similar to mine as they grow up, and whether I will still be around to offer them some answers. In times of need, I have often wondered “who” my grandparents really were, and “what” exactly they believed? What were their values and ideals? What did they learn from life, and what “wisdom” they acquired while they were here on earth? Unfortunately, they didn’t leave me anything written that could offer me any kind of answers…
That’s the reason I decided to write my “biography”. I think the most precious legacy that we can leave to our posterity is not money in the bank that will soon be wasted, nor worldly goods that eventually will fall into disrepair, but the values and wisdom that we have acquired during the course of our life!
These are treasures that we can transfer to them by writing them down, and that they will learn to appreciate when it will be their turn to face the complex challenges of life and will need real answers to the most important questions.
“A man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses” (Luk. 12:15). “Wisdom is much better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it” (Prov. 8:11).
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This was another introduction to my “biography”, the story of my life that I will be publishing chapter by chapter, but it’s not about me! It’s about the wonders God has done in my life, taking me from painful to joyful living, and through an incredible journey that is fulfilling my destiny! I believe that it will give you clues to help you fulfill your own destiny, so don’t miss the next chapters soon to be published at: http://renatoamato.com/en/welcome/biography/
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Dear Renato, I am eager to read your story, your autobiography, your legacy. It will, I know, bring hope to others and glory to God. Taking the first step is the most difficult and you have done this. God is with you in every word you write. He will see it to completion. Love and prayers, In Christ,
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