Acceptance, A True Virtue

Acceptance is a virtue that many of us struggle with on a daily basis. Situations arise in life that we simply don’t wish to accept. And sometimes we are completely justified in our thoughts.

The author of I Timothy tells us, “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.” Life is not perfect and we are going to encounter people, places, things, and situations that are hard for us to accept.  We all fall short of God’s grace, and life is often unfair and cruel. We are all sinners and make mistakes in life. Yet that is why Christ came into the world, to save us from our sins. This requires full acceptance, although we often are more than ready to point out the shortcomings of our neighbors, or even belittle ourselves.

The problem with acceptance however is when unthinkable and horrendous acts take place that affect us in a deeply mental, emotional and spiritual manner. 911 comes to mind. The acts of those terrorists and the number of lives they took on that dreadful morning is something I struggle with constantly. When innocent children are harmed in any way I find that hard to accept as well. God doesn’t intend for these things to happen. Yet they still occur. How can we make peace with those awful situations?

Then of course there are regular people and their thoughts and actions that we struggle to accept. How do we deal with our emotions towards those we find ourselves in complete disagreement or dislike?

Somehow we must find a way to cope with people and circumstances. Accepting people for who they are despite our differences is important to our spiritual lives. As far as circumstances we need to realize that they are usually out of our control. If we don’t make some sort of peace within ourselves then our anger festers and turns into resentment. While anger is a perfectly legitimate emotion, left unchecked we become spiritually ill, thus blotting out the light of the Holy Spirit. In many ways resentment paralyzes us and doesn’t allow us to move forward in life. There is no bridge to God or the peace he brings us. A life full of resentment is a life of misery and infinitely grave.

Does this mean that tragic events caused by radicalized or criminally sick people are acceptable? No, it doesn’t. Some actions can’t be tolerated, but we have to find a way to personally go on living life to the best of our ability. Sometimes we simply have to accept situations and people’s actions for what they are, and realize that these incidents are part of what it means to live in a broken and sinful world. Acceptance does not mean that we validate or support their actions. The key however, is to avoid a life of deep seeded resentment. Whether it is an individual or a circumstance, know matter how angry we become there is often little we can do to change the situation or the person. Therefore we must accept the person or situation for what they are, and then pray for the ability to move forward in life with the ability to cope.

Brother Curtis Almquist of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist writes, “If this is a season of your life where you are lost, take enormous comfort. Jesus will find his way to you. Jesus bridges the way to us and to the God whom he calls Father.” Resentment leaves no room for Christ in our lives. Acceptance is the bridge that leads us to peace of mind and heart. God will be our great comforter in distress. We simply have to avoid building walls of resentment so Jesus is able to come to us, and bring us healing, peace and acceptance.