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With you, St. Alban’s clergy will be reading the latest short daily passages from Show Me The Way by Henri J.M. Nouwen, and we will be offering our comments here. You are invited to post your thoughts as well. Please sign your name to any postings you make.
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Saturday, December 22, 2012
Barricade putter-uppers, ayuh
A few days before Christmas, that time when we look and see the sacred in life around us, Henri Nouwen notes that Quite often out of an intimate encounter with God, encounters with other human beings become possible...If you are the beloved of God, and if you start thinking about other people's lives, you start realizing that they are as beloved as you are.
Hmmm. Another reminder that Jesus didn't come to leave us alone.
Jesus did not come just to tell us that we are doing such a great job that no adjustments are necessary. While he came to tell us that God loves us as we are, he also revelaed that God does not leave us as we are. Jesus came to make a difference in our lives.
And one place where that difference is struggling to be made has to do with the barriers that people like you and I erect between ourselves and other people...those other beloved people Nouwen invites us to think about today. We like those barriers we build. They give us some measure of control. They tell us who we are and who we are not. They tell us that we are separate from each other, maybe a little better, which makes us feel good. They also simplify our lives by not letting others get too, too close.
We like the barriers and so we keep erecting new ones. We're good barricade putter-uppers. But God is just not into barriers, including barriers between us and him. Jesus's life was about removing our separation from God's hopes and God's beloved people.
If we would welcome the Christ child, then let us remove the barriers and boundaries that divide us from one another. Look around, you might see a few that could come down. God in our lives and homes and parish and community loves us as we are, but does not leave us as we are.
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Yup…just one more example of how "being the best" or "being special" doesn't really serve us very well. I think in our American culture we are encouraged to be special, pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, and find our own way, independently.
ReplyDeleteAs I read Nouwen's entry, and your post, I am reminded of the challenge I have in seeing myself in a dualistic way…if I'm not the best/special, than I must be the worst. Of course I know (in my right mind) that this isn't true; however, I'm surprised to see how often my thoughts go in that direction.
So my prayer for today is closely aligned with Nouwen's suggestion: Lord, take away my desire to be the greatest and help me have the willingness to be the smallest, and thus understand how I can serve others. Amen.
Before we can love others we need to be able to love ourselves in the relationship we have with God. It is only in the intimacy of our self-relationship that we can find the ability to love other beloveds. If one cannot accept one's self how is it that one can love another? It is not and if, and or but. Instead it is being able to see the relationship that is happening between God and you as the beloved then turning to others to be in relationship knowing that we do fail, we do miss the mark, we do get it right and we are able to make a difference through relationships with both God and others. We do have a wonderful faith community and parish. It is very important to see God at work in all of us. The relationships we have need to be based on the relationship we have with God and how it works itself into our loving ourselves and others. What a dynamic church we could put together if we all could be in good relationship with ourselves and God. There are so many of us trying to get relationships right. It needs to start within yourself and the relationship you are making with God through prayerful opportunities, the eucharist and the acceptance of life-changing events as they happen. As church we are called upon to think of others, to do to others what you would want for yourself. If you do not love yourself and are not in a working relationship with God, how is it possible to work on relationships with others? We can only do good service toward others if we first understand what good service is to us and the relationship we have with God.It is then that our belovedness can come forward to serve others as God would have us do.Once a person begins to understand who they are in relationship with God can they become an example to themselves and others. I pray to God that I can continue to know myself better and be able to reach out to others with their own relationships to God and that we can join together in our common yet different individualities to make church a dynamic place of beloveds.We need to stay in touch with God individually and in communion. See you at the altar rail and at the front door...maybe even further as our church continues to reach out and change!
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