Acceptance

Every so often a word gets stuck in my brain, and I spend a lot of time thinking about and examining it.  Yesterday the word “acceptance” was such a word, and I knew I would be considering it today as well.
The sort of acceptance I was thinking about was not like an acceptance speech or accepting a job offer but acceptance of an individual.  One thing I read about acceptance I really like is that acceptance does not necessarily mean agreement or approval but rather is a receptive non-judgemental attitude.
One thing I know is that discernment on my part is always needed.  There are those that endevour to gain my acceptance with the express aim of ripping me off.  I see this when bank accounts are dried or when someone pays huge amounts looking for love and the one they converse with has no goal other than to take their money.
It seems to me sometimes the opposite of a word can be examined to gain a greater understanding of what a word means.  Non acceptance is something I know I and it appears others need to battle.
Often it seems non acceptance takes the form of an unwillingness to accept another’s right to exist based on what is perceived to be an unacceptable difference.  That can be as simple as skin colour.  One refuses to accept another because they were born or came from elsewhere.  Or it seems it could be as simple as culture.  Another is only accepted if they are willing to embrace my culture.
Just because I was brought up a certain way within a certain culture does not make that culture the only correct one.  People living in the Amazon have a different culture to me and there are elements of that culture that can be embraced.  They are not moral issues but simply the way things are done issues.
I am fond of saying there is good in bad people and bad in good people.  It seems to me the worst-case scenario is anyone who adheres to a rigid set of beliefs that refuses to accept another.  One can disagree with something held to by a person while accepting a person.
To me the universal law of love transcends cultures and is universal.  I have much I can gain from another’s world view.  They can gain from me if I am accepted.  I know it is true for me that I will not share my experience with anther if I am not accepted in the first place.  This will always mean listening to hear rather than listening to speak.
My mantra is summed up in the words of a song I like.  “I’m not one who has it all in place telling you what you should do, I’m just one old hungry beggar showing you where I found food.”