Running away from your past
How do you escape shame?
“Shame is a soul-eating emotion.” -Carl Jung
I can instantly recall a scene from my 6th-grade year at Lee Elementary. Our class was doing a rehearsal for a play in the cafeteria. In the middle of a scene, a girl walks in through the back doors. For some reason, I thought it was appropriate to raise a middle finger in the air at her (I had no idea what it meant; I’d only just learned it from some bad influences in my class!). I remember the horror on my teacher’s face when she turned around to see what I was doing. She told me my mom and dad would find out if I ever did it again.1 Even today, I can easily conjure up the shame I felt that day.
Shame.
What comes to mind for you? Is it those words you spoke in anger to your spouse that you’ve tried to take back a million times in your head but you keep bludgeoning yourself with them over and over again? Is it the time you didn’t spend with your kids because you were too busy climbing the ladder? Is it the person walking down the road you felt you were supposed to help, but you drove on by? Is it the “can’t miss” business venture that failed and bankrupted your family? Is it the alcohol addiction that you’ve hidden from the world, but you live in fear of others finding out? In each of these cases, it seems that the damage has been done and can’t be reversed.
I am a Jesus follower. I know that may conjure up all kinds of negative emotions based on your personal experience with church people. I have several of my own that I can recount. If you’ve been made to feel less than by people who claim to represent him, I’m so sorry. If you’re offended by those who would put him out there to represent their particular political views, I’m so sorry. It makes me sick, too. If you were told to clean yourself up so you can be acceptable to God, I’m so sorry. That’s a bar so high that no one can reach it.
As beautifully represented in this video, Jesus isn’t anything like the negative examples of people claiming to represent him that I’ve encountered in my life and perhaps you’ve encountered in yours. He didn’t go to the people who looked good on the outside. He went to those on the fringes of society. The unacceptable outcasts who wore their shame like a suit of clothes:
No matter your past, on this Easter Sunday, may you find rest for your soul and encouragement in…
…knowing that you’re not alone
…knowing that your life matters
…knowing that you are loved just as you are
My prayer for you is that you will give yourself grace and be released from your shame. Make it a wonderful week!
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My dad reads this newsletter, so the cat is out of the bag!
this was great! thank you!!
Bravo! We share a similar message, Tarek! All Blessings!