One
of the hardest spiritual tasks is to live without prejudices. Sometimes
we aren't even aware how deeply rooted our prejudices are. We may think
that we relate to people who are different from us in colour, religion,
sexual orientation, or lifestyle as equals, but in concrete
circumstances our spontaneous thoughts, uncensored words, and knee-jerk
reactions often reveal that our prejudices are still there.
Strangers, people different than we are, stir up fear, discomfort, suspicion, and hostility. They make us lose our sense of security just by being "other." Only when we fully claim that God loves us in an unconditional way and look at "those other persons" as equally loved can we begin to discover that the great variety in being human is an expression of the immense richness of God's heart. Then the need to prejudge people can gradually disappear.
Henri Nouwen
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