{"id":357,"date":"2013-06-08T11:49:13","date_gmt":"2013-06-08T11:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/?p=357"},"modified":"2013-06-08T11:49:13","modified_gmt":"2013-06-08T11:49:13","slug":"who-are-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/06\/who-are-you.html","title":{"rendered":"Who Are You?&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/files\/2013\/06\/Who-are-you.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-360\" alt=\"Who are you?\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/352\/2013\/06\/Who-are-you-300x213.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"213\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I think I will have to respond like this:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When I left America for Europe on my first trip around the world, I left as a Baptist Christian.<\/p>\n<p>When, in Europe, however, I realized I was really more than just a Baptist Christian, I was a Catholic Christian, too.<\/p>\n<p>But that was before visiting the Middle East where I became a cross between a Jew and a Muslim&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Until, of course, we visited India where I realized I had been a Hindu all along;<\/p>\n<p>Until we visited Japan where it all became clear: I&#8217;m really a Buddhist.<\/p>\n<p>When I finally returned to America, I realized, &#8220;I am all of these religions and still a Christian, too. In fact, I&#8217;m pretty sure I am more Christian today than I&#8217;ve ever been before.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So today, I suppose I would have to identify myself as a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Catholic and Baptist Christian who has never\u2026ever\u2026I repeat\u2026never\u2026ever&#8230;stopped loving Jesus or seeking to follow him\u2026<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t think I ever will.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So, who are you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I think I will have to respond like this: &#8220;When I left America for Europe on my first trip around the world, I left as a Baptist Christian. When, in Europe, however, I realized I was really more than just a Baptist Christian, I was a Catholic Christian, too. But that was before visiting the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[550,14,553,551,552],"tags":[350,2189,555,2186,2192,141,556,2190,2191,554],"class_list":["post-357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhist","category-christian","category-hindu","category-jew","category-muslim","tag-baptist","tag-buddhist","tag-catholic","tag-christian","tag-hindu","tag-i-am","tag-i-am-more-christian-today","tag-jew","tag-muslim","tag-who-are-you"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Who Are You?... - Your Best Life Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/06\/who-are-you.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who Are You?... - Your Best Life Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I think I will have to respond like this: &#8220;When I left America for Europe on my first trip around the world, I left as a Baptist Christian. 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Leadership Coach... Counsel to Non-Profits, Faith-based Organizations and Congregations... Adjunct Professor of Communication at the University of Kentucky... Spiritual Teacher... Inspirational and Motivational Speaker. But not always in this order. On the university campus, I teach students the Art of Communication. In my public talks, however, I teach leaders the Art of Leading; I teach everyone the Art of Living...so that... when you come to the end... and, you will come to the end... You're able to look back on life feeling... Fulfilled... Accomplished... Content, Peaceful, and Happy, too... Knowing your brief but important journey has made this world a more... Conscious... Compassionate, and... Charitable place. 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