a collections of nouwen thoughts on clowning.. in rome
- our world is in a state of emergency,
it needs clowns.
- offer hope, courage, & confidence to those in the circus.
solitude
- to be in solitude is to become real with yourself in the face of God.
- if you are becoming burnt out, loss of passion, powerless, questioning.. don't look for someone to
- fix you, but become empty for your God to speak to you.
- Solitude is parallel for all relationships.
- it is not just time spent apart, but a ground from which community and relationships grow.
- You cannot be anyone other than yourself, the person God intends for you to be, when you are in solitude.
- we are empty for God
celibacy
- it is not about sex, but about making space for God.
- too often people will hold/grasp onto what they feel is important in meaningful relationships, only to choke the freedom out of the relationship..
- image1: of two holding hands as a relationship. when things get rough, hands tend to clinch together holding onto anything they can..
- image2: a relationship with a focus on God is directed as a set of praying hands. hands have a common direction & are reliant on that one goal, there is freedom to move within this form.
- a celibacy of holding space for God within our relationships is one of our witnesses
prayer
- pray without ceasing is not, thinking about God. thinking about God attempts to make logical sense of God, too take away mystery..
- prayer is not a part of life, but it is a way of life.. be a pray-er
- prayer becomes a conversation with God where joys, sorrows, anger, confusion, wants/needs, etc. are expressed. to not bring everything is not being honest
contemplation & ministry
- there was a sculptor, who was chiseling on a large block of marble. a boy watched, left, & returned.. he saw a lion sitting in the place of the block of marble.
"sir, tell me, how did you know there was a lion in the marble?"
- contemplative life give vision & a life of ministry is this vision revealed to others
- see the Christ within each person, thing, & occurance. as you approach, much like the benedictine understanding of hospitality.
- but see the Christ that is within nature
- see the Christ that is within your daily schedule
- see the Christ that is within the people you meet
- stop allowing ourselves to see what we think we see, the cloudiness of our stereotypes, overprogramming, biases, baggage experiences; let the Christ transform us to be transparent, and see through the opaqueness of things around us, and see their transparency
search me and know me Lord, help me to become one of your clowns. Amen
