You Are BelovedSample

 Have you ever—in spite of having lots of friends or a big family—felt isolated? Have you thought to yourself, Why do I feel this way? I’m completely surrounded by my people — the people who love me. Yet many of us have a sense that there’s something missing — something deep and indescribable. And then we proceed to look for ways to ignore this void, to move on, to just endure.

That nagging feeling is loneliness, and it’s driving all the negative things we do. This is because our greatest need is to connect deeply with others. The need isn’t merely to have a spouse, a girlfriend or boyfriend, or lots of friends or people in your life. Many of us have many relationships, but we still feel a sense of emptiness and loneliness even though we are not alone. . .

We need more than just having people in our lives. We need the people we love to see us deeply — to accept us right where we are with all our flaws. And we need to be trusted enough so that others allow us to see their imperfections as well. When the soul is rooted in the love of God, it becomes safe to reach out to others, while still remaining truly yourself. If you experience rejection or betrayal, you simply fall back on the safety net that is the person of Jesus Christ, the one who will always love you, no matter what. 

The Creed of the Beloved trains us to abandon all the fake stuff in our lives and simply find a home in our identity as the beloved. It gives us the resilience to bounce back after being rejected or embarrassed. Saying it in a spirit of prayer and allowing it to sink deeply into our hearts can be the key that allows us to take big risks by going deeper with others.

The best way to have more emotional and spiritual energy is to connect deeply with others, to believe you are worthy of that belonging and connection, to believe you have something to offer, and to stop giving all your time to things that don’t matter. Dying people don’t think about their accomplishments; they think about their relationships. We’ll be thinking about those whom we love and who love us. That’s really all that matters, and everything in life should be built around that. So let go of your shame and guilt, and reach out to others. Then, watch as you actually feel stronger, more loved, and more joyful.