Nouwen: Self-rejection and being the Beloved
“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 (You are the Beloved Convergent Books 2017)
Smithsonian American Art
This is a basic premise of Henri Nouwen’s about the spiritual life. He believes that when God tells Jesus he is the beloved son at his baptism, God also speaks to us. Nouwen believes our primal identity is as beloved sons and daughters of God.
When we can accept God’s unconditional love, we are then called to go out into the world and share this love. Unconditional love is only sustained when it is shared. It cannot be love, only of self. When we forget or cannot believe the truth about this love, self-rejection sets in that can destroy us and others. Unconditional love is constantly being attacked by ourselves, others, and the world around us. We must be reminded about it every day, every second.
One way to keep it is to be connected to a loving community where others strive to hear the voice of unconditional love, where the voice of the God of love is magnified and transmitted. Some days, the voice that we are beloved is so soft we cannot hear it. Our ears become stopped up by the voices of the world. These days, we need friends to remind us that we are beloved. On other days, we know we are beloved and now remind others. We are constantly being healed and healing others of this self-rejection living among us, which is like an infectious disease.
However, unconditional love is always stronger, stronger than even death.
Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/