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Acceptance is an interesting word. It involves both the act of accepting as well as the fact of being accepted. In this way, it’s kind of a two-way street.
One of the corollary definitions of accepting is “to be able or designed to take hold, as in something added or applied, like a surface that will not accept ink.” This is another two-way street. On the one hand is the surface and on the other hand is the ink. Acceptance happens when the first is primed to consent to the second.
I remember watching a master artisan create an ink drawing on fine linen paper.
There was something spare yet elegant in the careful brushstrokes from which a blooming branch took shape. It was as if the paper itself was hungry to accept and drink in the ink that forever altered its surface. The artisan knew how much ink to put on the brush and how long to rest the brush on the paper, mindful of how much ink would be absorbed. The gentle precision was impressive and the drawing that resulted simply beautiful.
I think God is like that master artisan.
The surface is your sense of self, and the ink is the truth of your life. Only when you learn to accept and drink in the truth will you become who God wants you to be. In order to accept yourself, to display the vital characteristic of self-acceptance, you must be able to take and hold the truth when it is applied to your life. As the definition says, I believe God has designed you to be able to do just that.
SOURCE: Chapter 9: “Learning the Power of Acceptance” in Every Woman’s Guide to Managing YourAnger by Gregory L. Jantz, PhD., founder of The Center for Counseling and Health Resources Inc.
