Dear Friend....

I have been reading Henri Nouwen's book Life of the Beloved: spiritual living in a secular world.

It remarkably encapsulizes a situation that is going on with one of my friends, Charlie. Charlie has CP. He has been going to Mass at a church off and on for a few years now since he moved out of his parents' home. Week after week he hopes to meet someone there as a friend and to feel connected. It hasn't happened and so he has come here to this blog, feeling rejected. This has become his journey.

I spoke with Charlie today and told him that he is already beloved by God. I explained to him that it is up to him to become the "beloved", meaning that although we are God's children and loved by God, it is up to us to fulfill our purpose in life.

We simply cannot do that if we reject who we are or fail to see how beloved we are.

Charlie gave me his permission to blog about this because he hoped his process would help someone else who was struggling with the same thing. We're all lured by success and approval. We all fall into the trap at times of thinking that those are the important things.

But they're not. We are already beloved. We don't have to do anything to feel beloved but become beloved by doing God's will and, ultimately, GOd's work.

It is up to us to make that spiritual journey. No one else can do it for us. We can meet guides on the way, as Nouwen writes, but each of us remains responsible for completing that journey.

And, Charlie, my dear friend, having CP does not exempt you or give you an excuse. It has given you a different appearance and experiences. I can sit here and cry with you about all the hardships you feel , but I am more of a friend in a spiritual sense to tell you that getting down with you will not help you get up.

Seek God's will and His work for you. That will lead to relief from those feelings of self rejection and rejection by others.