God calls all of you to take the path of the inner truth--and that means taking responsibility for everything that's in you: for what pleases you and for what you're ashamed of, for the rich person inside you and for the poor one. Francis of Assisi called this, "loving the leper within us." If you learn to love the poor one within you, you'll discover that you have room to have compassion "outside" too, that there's room in you for others, for those who are different from you, for the least among your brothers and sisters.

Richard Rohr in Simplicity: The Art of Living by Richard Rohr

 

To Practice This Thought:
Write a friendly dialogue between yourself and that part of yourself of which you are ashamed.

 

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