Gleeview: Acceptance

Do you ever feel like an outsider? Like you don't quite fit in. Sometimes I feel like one day at school they passed out a "How To Be Cool" handbook--only I was absent that day. I think this is why I find Glee so appealing. Sure I watch it to hear great music, see sweet dance moves, laugh at clever jokes. But really what keeps me coming back to Hulu.com to catch every episode is that I can relate to characters that feel like...losers.

The problem Glee presents is that we are all different, we all feel like losers sometimes, and we all need complete acceptance. I wholeheartedly agree with the legitimacy of this problem. What I can't quite track with is the solution Glee offers up. Glee seems to sing and dance, "If we all just quit picking at each other's lifestyle choices, and just approved of whatever works for each individual, this problem would no longer exist." Or "Just accept yourself, and one day the world will accept you too."  True, there is value in accepting yourself and others.  It just never seems to be enough. 

In my experience, the cross is the only source of true acceptance. Only at the cross does the God of the universe say, "I know firsthand what you've done. I'm experiencing the pain and suffering your mistakes caused right now. But I love you 100% anyways. The pain of losing you would be worse than the pain of the cross. I'll pay any cost to restore you to myself."

This is coming from someone who tried every other source she could think of to find a solution to this problem. Before I turned to the Gospel my list of other lovers included popularity, resume-building titles, and the attention of men. None would satisfy. I tried positive psychology, self-help books, journaling, the works. Nothing helped me to see myself as valuable, loved, and worth knowing. Nothing short of Jesus.

We did nothing to deserve his love, in fact we did things to disqualify us from his love but he still chose to love us relentlessly. That's the only thing I can count on when I start to feel like I'm just not cool enough.

What helps you find acceptance?  I'd love to hear your thoughts, whether you agree with me or not.