Henri Nouwen
Chapter 2:
The Call: “Come Follow Me”
Following
Jesus, as described in the Gospels, is first of all an invitation to follow the
Lord of abundance. We are invited to follow the Lord even if we can’t fully absorb
the enormousness of this divine hospitality.
I hope you
see what I am saying. Fear is precisely what makes us hold on to our position
and possessions. It makes us hold on to what we have, because we are so afraid
we will lose what we need. Love is overcoming fear. Love is letting go and
trusting that in the letting go life will multiply. Life will become more.
Chapter 3. The
Challenge: “Love Your Enemies
Page 85,
Love of Friends
Marriage is
the mystery that God loves us so much that we can discover together how God’s presence
can be made visible here and now by our commitment to each other. Our
faithfulness becomes possible not because we stay the same or stay together,
not because we are compatible or that we have the same life goals, but because
God holds us together in that first love.
Page 99
Sometimes there
is an eagerness in us, or around us, to turn Jesus into a problem solver. We think
he will solve all our problems, and if all our problems are not solved we don’t
have enough faith. That is not really Jesus’ intent. At least that is not what
is in the Gospel. Jesus is not there to get us out of hot water. He is not the
cure-all for our difficulties. Jesus is not the end of the hard times in our
lives. That is not what Jesus is.
To follow
Jesus means that we do the walking. We are the ones doing the talking, living
life, getting involved. We are the ones struggling, the ones who need to work
hard. Jesus, in a way, does not tae away the difficulties of our journey. I
even dare to say that, following Jesus means everything changes while
everything remains the same. You know very well that followers of Jesus –
disciples – are people who live real human lives. The work of life does not
come easier to them because they are disciples.
Chapter 6.
The Promise: “I Will Be With You Always”
We do not
do service to earn anything. It is not an anxious need to save the world. We
don’t act on the condition that change will take place. NO. You can see how
intense that might become. If our only concern is “I better help him or her”,
or to do things to change a person or the world, or the country, or the
politics, or the social condition – if change is the condition of service – we are
going to be very bitter and very soon. But if service is an expression of gratitude
for the love we have already experienced then we can be free and engage in change
without trying so hard. Service is an expression of the gift you have within
you that you want to share with others.
In a way,
service is an act of gratitude. We are so full of God’s presence, we are so
aware of God’s promise, that we don’t want to hold it back. We want to share it.
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