Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Nouwen on the Authority of Compassion


"The Church often wounds us deeply. People with religious authority often wound us by their words, attitudes, and demands. Precisely because our religion brings us in touch with the questions of life and death, our religious sensibilities can get hurt most easily. Ministers and priests seldom fully realize how a critical remark, a gesture of rejection, or an act of impatience can be remembered for life by those to whom it is directed.


There is such an enormous hunger for meaning in life, for comfort and consolation, for forgiveness and reconciliation, for restoration and healing, that anyone who has any authority in the Church should constantly be reminded that the best word to characterize religious authority is compassion. Let's keep looking at Jesus whose authority was expressed in compassion."



4 comments:

  1. People wound people.



    Husbands, wives.



    Wives, husbands.



    Parents, children.



    Even children, parents.



    Managers, subordinates.



    People screw up, both giving and receiving. I guess a key difference is that people don't think it should happen in the church.

    ReplyDelete
  2. it just proves we are all human



    which I find very re-assuring

    ReplyDelete
  3. I dont find it reassuring, I find it scary, and a little sad.

    ReplyDelete



Play nice - I will delete anything I don't want associated with this blog and I will delete anonymous comments.