Acceptance and Respect

By Angela Hutchinson

     Upon taking on the task of writing, I think over lessons that I encounter in my own life.  The same lesson I will address here has been presented to me repeatedly over the last two years and I thought it would be a privilege to share it with each of you.

     As some of you know, I was raised in a Christian fundamentalist Church.  As an adult I find myself torn between feelings of injury and respect for this institution.  This is an area that is still in the healing process for me.  I feel respect because this was how I was introduced to Spirituality and God during this lifetime; wounded because I was introduced to illusions of imperfection and judgment as well.

     Being a highly sensitive and perceptive person looking for approval, I latched onto illusory feelings of guilt and shame from some of the church's teachings.  Teachings of original sin, demonstrations of condemnation and repeated calls to "get right with God" , sexuality was never a positive subject, but one to be avoided and condemned.  Hearing that my Heavenly Father would quickly throw me into the fiery gates of hell if I didn't accept Jesus as my personal Savior and follow the rules the spiritual leaders deemed appropriate was very confusing to me. 

     I have lived in Georgia for almost 3 years now and those I have encountered on my path here have all been of the Christian faith.  I often encounter these feelings of conflict.  In other words, the Universe has offered me a chance to heal my pain and grow spiritually and emotionally.  My Spirit tells me that we are all One.  We are all on the path to Enlightenment or spiritual maturity.  One road is just as valid as the next.  We progress to realize what is real and what is not.  All paths should be respected because the destination is the same.  No one is capable of fully knowing another's lessons in this incarnation, so judgment is futile and arrogant.

     As the Universe faithfully demonstrates to me...I Am Still Growing.  We all are or we would not be here.  I find myself trying to prove these people of different beliefs and paths "wrong" in my own head.  I have judged and I have been judged.  Both sting harshly, perpetuating this harmfully false cycle of behavior.  We all desire on some level acceptance and respect for who we are and what we believe.  This is when we must recognize our own ego's work and the words of Spirit.  The defensiveness and feelings of hurt when others judge us or when our beliefs are not accepted by others, are wounds we must heal.  Self love heals the pain and extends the grace of acceptance to others unconditionally.  If we are healed on a personal level it makes all conflict null and void.  We no longer require that others accept us.  Acceptance and tolerance is something we all should strive to achieve, however, we do not require it from others to be at peace.  Do I believe what my teachers of tolerance here in Georgia believe?  No, not really.  Do they believe what I believe to be true?  No, not really.  That is not the critical question.   The significant question is this:  how will we react to this difference of thought?  To Unite or to Separate?

     I have chosen to heal those parts of me that feel pain, to allow other's their own path of understanding without condemnation.  The bottom line is that we all come from One Source and we are all discovering who we are in this vast Universe.  Thank you Father/Mother/God for extending Your Wisdom to me this day and in this way.