“Shame is a soul eating emotion.”
That’s from Carl Jung, one of the pioneers in psychology.
We touched on this yesterday while talking about Jesus’ teachings where a son made a lot of bad choices that brought shame to him and his dad.
In spite of it all, as the son returned home, dad raced out to meet him with a hug and a kiss. The hug stopped the son’s guilt in its tracks as the kiss filled the emptiness of the son’s soul.
A scandalous way of living is replaced with a scandalous way of being loved.
I‘m reflecting on this as PPC’s most recent RV guest (and our 2nd vet in a row) stopped by this recently to thank us for making space available to him. He found affordable RV rental a few days ago, and his thanks came in repeated handshakes as his eyes were brimmed with tears.
It took a while for this to happen, and through this time he was a good neighbor to the neighbors around us and helped out as he could. Talking with him over this time I heard echoes of guilt and shame.
I pray that with stable shelter his soul now will be filled to the point where he’s free to find stability in other areas his life too.
Join us Sundays at 10AM as we learn the ways that Jesus scandalously loves us – and all.
Together We Serve,
Pastor Mike