The Trap of Self-Rejection
Over the
years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not
success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity,
and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive
quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger
temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices
that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and
power are easily perceived as attractive solutions. The real trap,
however, is self-rejection. . . . As soon as someone accuses me or
criticizes me, as soon as I am rejected, left alone, or abandoned, I
find myself thinking, “Well, that proves once again that I am a nobody.”
. . . My dark side says, “I am no good. . . . I deserve to be pushed
aside, forgotten, rejected, and abandoned.”
Self-rejection
is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the
sacred voice that calls us the “Beloved.” Being the Beloved constitutes
the core truth of our existence.
Henri Nouwen
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