Who are you?: PCC Response Paper 1

Know Thyself: Who are you?

My name is David Bolling Vinson, though I usually go by David – sometimes Dave. I’ve been Dave-o to a few friends, David (sounds like ‘Dabeed’) in the Dominican Republic, and Dawut (sounds like ‘Dawoot’) in Turkey. I’ve answered to “dude,” “white dude,” “soccer dude,” “Vinson,” “Richard” (several of my school teachers often called me by my older brother’s name), “man,” “hey you,” “DV,” “Mr. V” (in the school where I worked), among other handles. My aunt used to address all her mail to me as “Master David” for no apparent reason; I enjoyed that.

My parents named me David after my maternal grandfather. Bolling comes from my paternal grandmother’s family, and Vinson of course is my paternal family name. I haven’t done much research into the Vinson name, but most in my family assume it to be an Anglicized version of Vincent, which is a Norman name I believe. So ethnically speaking, perhaps I’m Scandinavian-French-English-American, but that’s just the paternal side I suppose.

I’m about six feet and one inch tall, kinda scrawny, with long legs. I favor both my mother and father, but my frame comes from my father’s side. I have brown hair, much like my mother’s in color and thickness, blue eyes like my father, a round nose like both parents, and very big teeth, similar to my father. My second toe is longer than my big toe – somehow that is significant to my mother; she calls it Morton’s toe and thinks it’s funny. My ears stick out, and on my right ear the upper lobe is squished, as is my father’s and my older brother’s. I have a slight dimple in my left cheek when I smile. Overall I look very similar to both my brothers and my father.

To some extent I’m the sum of my experiences, right? I grew up in Danville, Virginia, the second of three boys in an educated middle class family. I lived in a middle class white neighborhood and attended a middle class white church. I made my way through Danville Public Schools, which is well integrated racially, actually, even though the neighborhoods are quite segregated; I made good grades, even though I didn’t study or retain very much. Sports, music, and church kept me busy and happy.

When I was sixteen my parents divorced, which rocked my world. My vague and intuitive notions of home, family, humanity, marriage, love, morality, even of God, changed. Changed how? I’m not sure. I was like an ignorant goat in the garden of Eden, watching my human masters fail and then following them out into the “real” and fallen world.

I went to college and studied literature and developed a love for it, and a love for study. After graduating I worked in Turkey as a home-school teacher, then came back to the states to work in a boarding school for two years. I struggled painfully with depression that second year, and I moved to Richmond the following summer, bunking with my brother, Richard, his wife, Suzanne, and their son, Joseph. Their hospitality and love were inspiring, and their family – now including a precious daughter, Cora Rose – continues to inspire me.

I worked for a school year as a teacher’s aid in the Sarah Dooley Center for Autism and the Dooley School over at St. Joseph’s Villa. During that year I discovered, with my sister-in-law’s help, this wonderful and fascinating place called Richmond Hill. I volunteered now and then; I got to know some of the residents; then I participated in their summer camp program; I felt a tug, and I was interested. I inquired about and then applied for the one year internship in Urban Spirituality, and now this month marks three years for me at Richmond Hill. Thanks be to God! I feel God’s call to service here more strongly now than when I first applied.

Who or what else am I? I’m a personality – quiet, introverted, curious, silly, anxious, depressed, open, adventurous. I’m a mess of habits – work, sleep, eat, scratch my head, brush my teeth, pop my knuckles. I’m a character – kind, patient, passive-aggressive, fearful, responsible, guilty. I’m an identity – Christian, American, Virginian, Southern, White, Male. I’m a brother, son, boyfriend, employee, co-worker, volunteer, citizen, friend, neighbor. I have tastes, hobbies, stories, dreams, nightmares, hopes, goals. There’s no end to the ways we can describe ourselves, it seems. And it seems we like to do so!

A teacher told me once that there is 50% of me that I as well as others can know. Then there is 25% of me that I can know but others can’t know. And finally there is 25% of me that others can know but I can’t know. That sounds about right, don’t you think? Thankfully there is Someone who knows me completely, and loves me completely. In all and above all I’m a creation and child of God, as we all are. May God lead us to know more about ourselves, more about each other, and more about God. Amen.