for this year, i really sensed as i prayed for this year that God spoke very clearly about this being a year of incarnation. i know that seems mystical and elusive, but really it literally means 'in the flesh.' or for some reason my mind thinks about carne being meat, so i thought, hmm, the incarnation - in the meat. what does that even mean? i don't even know. just go with it.
"...There is so much fear, so much distance, so much generalization, and so little real listening, speaking, and absolving that not much true sacramentality can be expected.
How can priests or ministers feel really loved and cared for when they have to hide their own sins and failings from the people to whom they minister and run off to a distant stranger to receive a little comfort and consolation? How can people truly care for their shepherds and keep them faithful to their sacred task when they do not know them and so cannot deeply love them? I am not at all surprised that so many ministers and priests suffer immensely from deep emotional loneliness, frequently feel a great need for affectivity and intimacy, and sometimes experience a deep-seated guilt and shame in front of their own people. Often they seem to say, 'What if my people knew how I really feel, what I think and daydream about, and where my mind wanders when I am sitting by myself in my study?'
It is precisely the men and women who are dedicated to spiritual leadership who are easily subject to very raw carnality. The reason for this is that they do not know how to live the truth of the Incarnation. They separate themselves from their own concrete community, try to deal with their needs by ignoring them or satisfying them in distant or anonymous places, and then experience an increasing split between their own most private inner world and the good news they announce. When spirituality becomes spiritualization, life in the body becomes carnality. When ministers and priests live their ministry mostly in their heads and relate to the Gospel as a set of valuable ideas to be announced, the body quickly takes revenge by screaming loudly for affection and intimacy. Christian leaders are called to live the Incarnation, that is, to live in the body, not only in their own bodies but also in the corporate body of the community, and to discover there the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Confession and forgiveness are precisely the disciplines by which spiritualization and carnality can be avoided and true incarnation lived. Through confession, the dark powers are taken out of their carnal isolation, brought into the light, and made visible to the community. through forgiveness, they are disarmed and dispelled and a new integration between body and spirit is made possible." - In the Name of Jesus (pp 65-68)
nonetheless, i digress. my thoughts on the incarnation was spurred by an excellent essay by Lesslie Newbigin called Proper Confidence, which i reviewed for my hermeneutics class last semester. it truly is a must read. as i was telling my best friend about both this book and the concept of manifesting the concepts of the traditions of Christ's followers, he told me about reading a quote from Henri Nouwen. I thought it was appropriate,
"...There is so much fear, so much distance, so much generalization, and so little real listening, speaking, and absolving that not much true sacramentality can be expected.
How can priests or ministers feel really loved and cared for when they have to hide their own sins and failings from the people to whom they minister and run off to a distant stranger to receive a little comfort and consolation? How can people truly care for their shepherds and keep them faithful to their sacred task when they do not know them and so cannot deeply love them? I am not at all surprised that so many ministers and priests suffer immensely from deep emotional loneliness, frequently feel a great need for affectivity and intimacy, and sometimes experience a deep-seated guilt and shame in front of their own people. Often they seem to say, 'What if my people knew how I really feel, what I think and daydream about, and where my mind wanders when I am sitting by myself in my study?'
It is precisely the men and women who are dedicated to spiritual leadership who are easily subject to very raw carnality. The reason for this is that they do not know how to live the truth of the Incarnation. They separate themselves from their own concrete community, try to deal with their needs by ignoring them or satisfying them in distant or anonymous places, and then experience an increasing split between their own most private inner world and the good news they announce. When spirituality becomes spiritualization, life in the body becomes carnality. When ministers and priests live their ministry mostly in their heads and relate to the Gospel as a set of valuable ideas to be announced, the body quickly takes revenge by screaming loudly for affection and intimacy. Christian leaders are called to live the Incarnation, that is, to live in the body, not only in their own bodies but also in the corporate body of the community, and to discover there the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Confession and forgiveness are precisely the disciplines by which spiritualization and carnality can be avoided and true incarnation lived. Through confession, the dark powers are taken out of their carnal isolation, brought into the light, and made visible to the community. through forgiveness, they are disarmed and dispelled and a new integration between body and spirit is made possible." - In the Name of Jesus (pp 65-68)
I don't believe I can add a whole lot to that.
-peaks out.
3 comments:
:) you have the Newbigin essay in digital form?
beautiful. read my post. written before reading.
i miss you caleb. how are you?
I keep checking back to see more from you. I know it's a busy time so I think that your next entry should be a discussion about silence and solitude withing spiritual formation. :)
Let me know when you get this, I may have some ideas.
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