Note: On Fridays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
It’s never been particularly comfortable to be a wild dreamer in this world, whether your name is Joseph or Jesus or Martin Luther King Jr. or Steve Jobs or Danica Patrick. We’re much more comfortable with conformity, with people who docilely go along and don’t make waves. People who dream of a brighter future or who dare to think about better or different ways to live run into rejection all the time, by their peers, their families, their 
communities, their competitors, and those who despise them simply for breathing. If you’re regarded as successful, people snipe about your perceived egoism or arrogance. If you’re regarded as a failure, they’re more than happy to pile on about your shortcomings and why they knew all along you were a loser.
In the Parable of the Tenants, Jesus alludes to himself as “the stone that the builders rejected.” But the lesson applies to each of us as well. We will experience rejection throughout our lives, whether it’s not being selected for a new job or the end of a romantic relationship or being mocked for our faith, but that can’t stop us from finding ways to draw closer to God or to do his will. What wecando is keep those priests and elders in mind when we are tempted to dismiss those who push our and society’s buttons or who reject us, instead of reflecting Christ’s love, patience and, where necessary, forgiveness, in our dealings with them. It may not make our dreams any more likely to come true in this world… but it helps us prepare for the joy and acceptance we will share in the next one.
