communion

Photo by Gerry Straub

The Pain of Rejection

One the deepest pains
humans experience
is the pain of rejection
the pain of feeling nobody wants you.
Rejection gives rise to
tension, fear, loneliness
and a terrible anguish.
This inner pain
destroys inner peace.

One of the most effective ways
of beginning to see beauty
within the pain of rejection
is through genuine communion.
To be in communion with someone
means to be with them.

In communion we discover
we actually belong together,
and truly need each other.
Communion means
accepting another
just as they are,
with all their warts and baggage,
all their imperfections and weaknesses,
in all their pain and need.
Communion does not mean
doing something for someone.
It means being with someone;
it means showing someone
their own beauty and value.

In communion,
we give each other
the gift of
the freedom to grow.
Communion’s main enemy
is elitism,
and seeds of elitism
are within all of us.
Elitism is at the heart of
aparteid and every form of racism.

by Gerry Straub