I’ve
been having ‘big’ thoughts lately thanks to some reading and a couple of groups
I meet with every week. I’ll start with a little fact about me. I am borderline
obsessed with Lady Gaga. I love her music, her personality and guts, and her
message. Even with her provocative outfits and word choices, she has a strong,
clear message she speaks. In case you don’t know her story, a quick background:
Stefani Germanotta was bullied during her school years. She said that she was
different and always felt like a freak. She struggled for years, but finally
made it as a pop star. She speaks out as an LGBT activist, campaigned to raise
money for the prevention of HIV/AIDS, started a non-profit organization for
youth empowerment, self-confidence, and anti-bullying. She really talks and tries to connect to her
fans and speaks the message of self love and fighting against rejection from
others and yourself. (To find out more about Lady Gaga, you can learn a lot on
her Wikipedia page or at www.ladygaga.com)
Anyways,
my obsession with Lady Gaga comes into play with relating her message to
something we’ve been talking about in prayer groups. After St. Monica-St.
George’s retreat last month, the Women’s Group has been reading Henri Nouwen’s Life
of the Beloved. In a section of his book called Taken, Nouwen discusses how
we are all the chosen children of God. He loves us unconditionally, with the
good and the bad. This is a hard concept to understand, and even more so, fully
accept. It is hard to think that if I do something wrong that really upsets me,
that God still loves me just the same. Yes, He probably wants me to do better,
but he never stops loving me. And if I do something great, I’m sure He is proud
of me, but I can never do anything that will make Him love me anymore than He
already does, or anymore than He loves anyone else. An excerpt from the section
really stood out to me:
The
world is “manipulative, controlling, power-hungry, and, in the long run,
destructive. The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply
have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel
hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: “These
feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The
truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of
God, precious in God’s eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held
safe in an everlasting embrace.”
It
discusses the reality that the world is not a perfect place. Actually, it can
be quite terrible at times. Bad things happen and everyone, including you and
me, has dark days during their lives. But through all of this, God loves you
just the same. He loves you even when you can’t see why and even when you
reject His love. After reading this I knew I had to print it out and hang it on
my wall. You should too! I know it will be encouraging on bad days, and the
good days too. Nouwen goes on to discuss how self rejection is a way of not
accepting God’s love. We allow other people and things to determine our worth
and make us feel rejected or unaccepted. Nouwen says that God has chosen us, we
have a meaningful purpose in this life, and He loves us. This is where Lady
Gaga comes back to us J
“When the whole world has their
eyes on you, if you say something that doesn’t truly come from your spirit and
your soul, or if you wear something that doesn’t come from your spirit and your
soul, it’s an injustice to your position.
And so, I’m really myself every single day and I do it because I know my fans
would want me to.”
-Lady Gaga
Lady
Gaga has found that she is happy being herself and that you should never let
anyone else make you feel less than you are. She wears whatever she thinks is
artful or meaningful to her and doesn’t let anyone else make her feel bad about
it. She stands for what she believes in and won’t back down. It is a great
message, I think, to hold true to. Be yourself! Stand up for yourself and what
you believe in! Love yourself! You are a chosen child of God! Why not live up
to your full potential when you are loved by God and he wants you to be you?!
So, I hope this long post (sorry) has made you think about and appreciate God’s
love for you, inspired you to go out there and be exactly who you are meant to
be in this world, and maybe even sparked a little interest in Lady GagaJ I’ll leave you with a
final quote from Lady Gaga that she spoke to her audiences during her Monster
Ball Tour:
“Tonight I want you to forget all of your
insecurities. I want you to reject anyone or anything that ever made you feel
like you don’t belong or don’t fit in or made you feel like you’re not good
enough or pretty enough or thin enough or can’t sing well enough or dance well
enough or write a song well enough or like you’ll never win a Grammy or you’ll
never sell out Madison Square Garden. You just remember that you’re a superstar
and you were born this way!
May tonight be your liberation from all those things.
… I would pray and dream that one day just one person would believe in me, so when you leave here tonight, know that at least one person believes in you.”
May tonight be your liberation from all those things.
… I would pray and dream that one day just one person would believe in me, so when you leave here tonight, know that at least one person believes in you.”
Know that God always believes in you. So love the awesome
person that is you!
<3 Katie
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