Introduction to Spirituality of Living in the Image of God - Article published in the monthly Million Gospel, BIBLE&LIFE. Dec. "Rejected by the World"
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I, Yumi Ikeda Morse, was in charge of a series of articles in Inochi no Kotoba's "The Gospel of a Million People: BIBLE&LIFE" for one year from January 2023.
With permission from Inochi no Kotoba, we are pleased to publish the October-December issue of "Introduction to Living a Spiritual Life in the Image of God," which appeared in the monthly magazine "The Gospel of a Million People: BIBLE&LIFE" on our website.
BIBLE&LIFE" is full of useful articles and information from a variety of authors. Please be sure to purchase the latest issue.
*Please see the PDF article for the published article. The following is the original, unedited text. Some sentences have been omitted due to space limitations. We have left both the text as it is and the text that has been made easier to read through the efforts of the editors, and we hope you will enjoy the text as it is.
Rejected by the World
I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have spent the past year writing on the theme of shaping "the image of God" into our own lives. I chose this theme while pondering what kind of content would be appropriate for the end of the series. I hope it will be an opportunity for you to move forward.
Gloomy
A few months ago, I began to notice a shadowy flicker in front of my eyes. It looked like mosquitos. When I consulted a doctor I know, he told me that it is caused by aging and that I would soon get used to it. He told me not to worry about it. I am wondering if I have reached such an age, but I have no choice but to get used to it.
This September, I was opening the websites of several printing companies to order Christmas cards. Christmas greetings serve as a report of my mission work, and because of the large number of cards, I order them from printing companies.
Every time I scrolled through the templates presented by the printing companies, something hazy welled up from the bottom of my heart. It is like a flying shadow that jumps to the edge of my vision. The shadows of black debris in my field of vision are just like flying mosquitoes when I follow them with my eyes, and they are irritating. Likewise, the haze in my mind was very unpleasant, like mud rising up from the bottom of a settled pond.
Does the world is my place?
This mud had been settling in my life for a long time. After consulting with my Spiritual Director several times, I found out that the name of that mud is anger and "rejection".
A sample Christmas card shows a happy family. Beautiful homes, abundant life, loving parents, smiling children, travel, gifts...a display of "happiness".
And I had none of it. As a child, I didn't know which was more unusual: my reality or the normal family and life I saw on TV. What was certain was that knowing the right answer would only increase my suffering.
What are you angry about?" my Spiritual Director asked, and I thought for a moment and answered, "At the world...at everything.”
Uninvited
Lysa Terkeurst, a well-known Christian author, wrote a book on the theme of "rejection" called "Uninvited. She writes that throughout her life, the feeling in her heart that has frightened and frozen her is "rejection.” Rejection was a feeling that began when her father left when she was still a child.
She writes, "The last shred of my sense of security and identity cracked when I saw my father packing up his belongings without even looking at me. ...The sense of rejection sank deep into my heart. Then I came to a conclusion. I am of no value to you father." I came to the following conclusion: "I am of no value to God. These sensations became my new identity." ("Uninvited," Ch. 3)
TerKeurst, L. (2016). Ch.3 There's a Lady at the Gym Who Hates Me. in Uninvited: living loved when you feel less than, left out, and lonely. essay, Nelson Books, an essay, Nelson Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.
My spiritual director said, "The world is not perfect. You have to forgive the world. She taught me that the world is not perfect and that I must forgive the world.”
Inequality
The hazy feeling I had was that of being rejected by the world. Debt collectors were coming to my house, and even my lifeline was cut off because I was behind in paying my bills. I received the message that I was an embarrassment to this world. I was not a welcome presence to my parents or to society. The world is my enemy and I too have decided to reject the world and hostile to it.
I thought about Christ. How did Jesus see the world?
Would he have taken Joseph's attempt to leave Mary before he was born as a welcome from his parents? Would he have felt that the future was open to him when he was born to a poor couple and laid on a bed of straw instead of a bed of gold?
When the elite class were being educated in the Temple, did Jesus feel that he was on the same starting line as the elite as helping house chores?
This world would not have been a place of love and acceptance for one poor boy from rural Judea. Finally, the manger became a cross. Christ was uninvited. Jesus knew he was rejected by the world (John 15:18, 16:33 18:36).
Finally, Christ asked that the people might be forgiven and left the world (Luke 23:34). He had compassion in the midst of rejection. He appealed to His Heavenly Father. That was his attitude toward rejection.
Beyond Rejection
The reason I wrote this is because I believe that many people are almost held back from breathing by the experience of rejection. The aforementioned Lysa states that one thing to remember when experiencing rejection is that one failure is not conclusive of future failures.
It is good to acknowledge that you have been hurt, but don't make it a permanent obstacle." (see above, Ch. 11)
Consciously or unconsciously, we live in deep fear of rejection. Our efforts to avoid rejection can be described as a death struggle.
We are concerned about whether we are "fit" (manly, feminine, -like etc.), exams, promotions, competition, marriage, singleness, financial situation, children, position in church, turf wars...etc. We are also concerned about whether we are loved, needed, and wanted. Am I loved, am I needed? Am I accepted, am I allowed to stay?
Maybe, like me, you need to change your extreme reaction to rejection. You can forgive and move forward knowing that the person who rejected you is not perfect.
May the new year be a year of ever-increasing grace and shining glory to God for all of you. I sincerely wish you blessings.
Due to publication rights, please do not distribute this material to unspecified persons without permission. When quoting, please indicate the source, "The Gospel for a Million, Bible & Life," Inochino Kotobuko-sha, *Monthly issue.
