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Topic: Rejection (11/15/04)
TITLE: The Final Rejection By John Scott Cooper 11/19/04 |
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Determined authors must usually endure many slaps in the face in order to achieve one moment of exhilarating acceptance.
Actors have felt like slabs of meat that are offered on the scales of auditions in the hope of getting parts in plays or films only to be sent home with the infamous, “We’ll call you,” ringing in their ears.
Most have had the knife of rejection plunged into their gut countless times before they get that first walk-on or bit part. Many more turn downs come between the stirrings of success and any eventual stardom — if that pinnacle of acceptance is ever reached.
The pain of rejection and the frequency with which it is inflicted on those who seek to make a living in the arts is undoubtedly the main reason that multitudes quit and settle for the more mundane and somewhat safer world of normal employment.
Even if one is published or featured in a plum role, the inevitable bad reviews come along. What is rejection if it isn’t someone saying, “You did a bad job, you should give up writing (or acting), you are scum and not worth the air you’re breathing ...” – okay, maybe I’m getting carried away.
Still, rejection is part of everyone’s world. Some feel the soul-scarring anguish of not being loved by parents. Others seek the love of another and cannot even get their attention, often plummeting into a dark abyss of despair.
Millions of teens fall into unrequited love everyday. They will probably do it again next week. No matter how often or how easily they set their caps for the wrong person, the pain is sharp and unforgettable. It is never enjoyed.
Friends will betray us, and employers will choose someone else for that corner office, spiffy title and higher salary.
All of these experiences have one thing in common; while we might not believe it at the moment that our expectations are being crushed by cruel reality, we can and usually do continue to live on the other side of the abyss.
Most of us even find ways to flourish after each and every rejection. They can become stepping stones toward our ultimate success in life.
One final rejection exists for some, however. It is that moment when God says, “Depart from me; I never knew you.”
At that instant, the soul of the rejected is truly pulverized. And there is no “getting over it.” God withholds that day of judgment until a sinner's rejection of God is resolute and unchangeable.
If only everyone would recognize that their resistence to the wooing of the Holy Spirit can only go so far. If they only feared the wages of their final rejection more than the pitiful gains of their pride.