I was really moved by the conclusion of an episode of MySoCalledLlife:
Angela: Sometimes it seems like were all living in some kind of prison. And the crime is how much we hate ourselves. Its good to get really dressed up once in a while. And admit the truth: that when you really look closely, people are so strange and so complicated that theyre actually beautiful. Possibly even me.
I often wonder if that is man's problem - how much each individual person hates themselves. People sometimes respond to self hatred by turning it outward, bragging about how great they are, how much better they are than other people, only feeling good when they can put others down.
Others seem unable to find anything redemptive in themselves, allowing others to mistreat them, because they feel that they deserve it. They are unable to take a compliment, unable to believe that people truly love them, because they feel that if the other really knew who they were, they would share their loathing.
We are taught this everyday. We criticize one another for our looks, our physical shortcomings, our one-uppence that says we are less than. The television tells us that people won't like us if our shirts aren't white. Girls won't like you if you don't have blinding white teeth. Any sign of imperfection will plummet you into condemnation in the eyes of others.
I often wonder if this is not our greatest sin - our inability to love ourselves. And if we cannot love ourselves, I question if we can love others. So we cling, we become wannabe someone else, we criticize, we deflect our shame by blaming one another.
However, if we can realize that we, too, are gift from God, then our love for ourself will pour outward, and we will realize that everyone is deserving of love, everyone so complicated that they are beautiful, and understand why we are loved so much by God.
Is this possibly the greatest cause of the problems in the world?
Angela: Sometimes it seems like were all living in some kind of prison. And the crime is how much we hate ourselves. Its good to get really dressed up once in a while. And admit the truth: that when you really look closely, people are so strange and so complicated that theyre actually beautiful. Possibly even me.
I often wonder if that is man's problem - how much each individual person hates themselves. People sometimes respond to self hatred by turning it outward, bragging about how great they are, how much better they are than other people, only feeling good when they can put others down.
Others seem unable to find anything redemptive in themselves, allowing others to mistreat them, because they feel that they deserve it. They are unable to take a compliment, unable to believe that people truly love them, because they feel that if the other really knew who they were, they would share their loathing.
We are taught this everyday. We criticize one another for our looks, our physical shortcomings, our one-uppence that says we are less than. The television tells us that people won't like us if our shirts aren't white. Girls won't like you if you don't have blinding white teeth. Any sign of imperfection will plummet you into condemnation in the eyes of others.
I often wonder if this is not our greatest sin - our inability to love ourselves. And if we cannot love ourselves, I question if we can love others. So we cling, we become wannabe someone else, we criticize, we deflect our shame by blaming one another.
However, if we can realize that we, too, are gift from God, then our love for ourself will pour outward, and we will realize that everyone is deserving of love, everyone so complicated that they are beautiful, and understand why we are loved so much by God.
Is this possibly the greatest cause of the problems in the world?
