Create New Stars of Light, Love and Acceptance

“No day is the same as any other, and every morning holds its own special miracle, its magic moment in which old universes are destroyed and new stars created.”

Paulo Coelho, Love (Selected Quotations) 2015

Codependents can be notorious for judging themselves—and others—harshly. We look in the mirror and we don’t see our authentic selves; we see all of the mean judgments we’ve made against ourselves. Then we go about our day projecting our harsh self-judgments onto most everyone else we encounter.

Sometimes we can be like the Pharisees in the Gospel story about Zacchaeus. The Pharisees have already judged Zacchaeus to be a “sinner” because of his profession as tax collector for the Romans. Yet, what do they really know about Zacchaeus? Do they really know the workings of his heart? No. But more often than not, neither do we know the workings of another’s heart when we judge them harshly.

Jesus Christ comes along and instead of judging Zacchaeus, he reaches out to him. Jesus accepts Zacchaeus just as he is, whether he be a “sinner” or not, because Jesus always loves the person. And it’s the love of Jesus for Zacchaeus that brings the words of Paulo Coelho to life. Certainly the day that Zacchaeus met Jesus was unlike any other day in Zacchaeus’ life. That morning held a very special miracle; one that destroyed the old universe where Zacchaeus was persecuted for his behavior. And it created a new universe, filled with new stars, where Zacchaeus was loved for simply being who he is.

All of us want to be loved and accepted for who we are. To make this want a reality, we have to first be willing to believe that we are acceptable and lovable just the way we are. This is the first step toward allowing our Higher Power to love and accept us as we are. And it’s this first step that is essential to our being able to establish a healthy relationship with our own personal Higher Power.

Once we’ve taken that step, we will be granted the grace and strength to look in the mirror and to peal-away all of the false, negative judgments we have made against ourselves. We will be able to see ourselves as God sees us—as pure beauty; and we will then be able to see others in the same light.

Ask your Higher Power to help you destroy the old universes of self-hatred and self-condemnation, and to create a beautiful universe filled with new stars of light, love and acceptance.