“What isYour Purpose?
Lessons from an elder
“Do You Know Who You Are?”
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Mama K, an 85-year-old elder from Philadelphia. She had honey-brown skin with soft kind eyes and beautiful locs that hung to her ankles. While talking about my experience as an educator in Philadelphia, she interrupted me to ask a thought-provoking question, “Do you know who you are? What is your purpose?” It caught me off guard, and I couldn’t discern where she was coming from. My mind immediately went to a place of defensiveness and fear. Her question hurled like an accusation and seemingly came out of nowhere. She went on to say, “If you don’t know who you are, how can you teach children.” Finally, with a touch of caginess, I replied, “Yes, I know exactly who I am, and my purpose is to serve others.”
After not being satisfied with my answer, she continued to ask me three more times. Each time I responded with, “My purpose is to serve; I know exactly why God put me here.” After skeptically surrendering her line of questioning, I asked her, “Who are you? What is your purpose?” Her response stunned me; she replied with a look of audacity. She was completely taken aback. Who was I to ask her the same question and expect a confident answer? All she could muster was, “I am 85 years old, and I am still learning who I am; I’m on a journey. Finally, an…
