“The great spiritual call of the Beloved Children of God is to pull their brokenness away from the shadow of the curse and put it under the light of the blessing. This is not as easy as it sounds. The powers of the darkness around us are strong, and our world finds it easier to manipulate self-rejecting people than self-accepting people. But when we keep listening attentively to the voice calling us the Beloved, it becomes possible to live our brokenness, not as a confirmation of our fear that we are worthless, but as an opportunity to purify and deepen the blessing that rests upon us…And so the great task becomes that of allowing the blessing to touch us in our brokenness. Then our brokenness will gradually come to be seen as an opening toward the full acceptance of ourselves as the Beloved.”
(Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved)
When I think of being "the Beloved" I always go back to the place of Jesus' baptism. At that moment that Jesus came out of the water he heard these words, "This is my son in whom I am well pleased." I have felt for a very long time that it was those words that gave Jesus the self-identity he needed to fulfill his call. He knew at that point that there was no way he could displease God or cancel out the affection of his Father. Jesus knew at that point that it was not possible to disappoint God. As Jesus lived into that he was able to live a life that fully expressed his truest self because he did not fear rejection.
Our great task is to hear those words, "This is my son / daughter in whom I am well pleased." If we have heard that from our earthly parents - we are blessed beyond measure. If we didnt, we can hear it from the heart of God. Even if we did receive that kind of affirmation from our parents, we need to hear it from God daily in order to live into our truest self. We hold back in life because we feel worthless and we fear rejection. We live with fragile identities. God's love and blessing solidifies our identity and surrounds it with God's great pleasure and delight. To know that is to live an authentic life with courage and to go about loving others freely.
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