H,
There is a lot of shame inflicted in growing pains. We inherit the fears
and prejudices of our parents. We live in the shadow of their expectations. The
group to which we belong is always setting the tone of our lives, telling us
who we are and who we are not and how we fall short in both aims. We do not
know our own story. We have not yet begun to own it.
The Kingdom was not built for people to be alike. It is made for people
to be their true selves. In us right now, is some semblance of that. Perhaps a ghostly,
malformed, and mistreated version of who we truly are. Perhaps, an incomplete
story, a fable, an introduction, a back story, or an origin story. Yet, we are becoming.
We are in the field. We are being made more and more like our true selves,
daily.
Do not be ashamed of any part of your story. God certainly is not. The
light is not to expose your worst sides but to show you the best path. We must
work away from the easy judgments and fallen words of the cast of characters here
on earth with us. We belong to a different crowd. All of us are to look up to
the “crowd of witnesses to our faith.” The hall of faith is full of souls that
understand what it is to despair, to feel fear and shame, to have much to be
forgiven and much to forgive. Your story is valid, it is vital, and it is
accepted by God.