Artist: Nikolay Ge
I've long been concerned that the Church has cultivated a religion about Jesus rather than encouraging us to adopt the religion of Jesus. No one, really, expresses this better than Henri Nouwen:
I know that I have to move from speaking about Jesus to letting him speak within me, from thinking about Jesus to letting him think within me, from acting for and with Jesus to letting him act through me. I know the only way for me to see the world is to see it through his eyes.
When you think about it, Nouwen is actually communicating a high theology of the Indwelling. Perhaps this Lent we can ponder that teaching more seriously.
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This reminds me of the verse, "let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus"...
ReplyDelete"Let" is an interesting word...we could probably meditate on that for some time...it suggests to me allowing or cultivating, never forcing..
A wonderful and thought provoking quote. Thank you Sister.
annie c
I totally agree. So much of Christianity has made of Jesus and idol. Unfortunately the doctrine of the trinity obscures that reality. What so many fail to realize is that even God is made into an idol when we try to make God into our best friend, or our American Idol, or our whatever. However we think of God, God cannot be ours. Your post makes me think more about this matter. And what I am thinking is that no matter how we address our prayers, if we address them to one whom we think of as being our God, our Jesus, our Holy Spirit we delude ourselves into believing that the idol in our minds is God. But, I think another way of saying what you've said and what Henri Nouwen is saying is that instead of seeking to make God ours we should seek to make ourselves God's. (And do note the possessive)
ReplyDeleteHi, Annie. I agree with you about pondering the word, "let". I had not really thought of that before regarding the Philippians 2 passage you reference.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is wonderful, Tom:
"...instead of seeking to make God ours we should seek to make ourselves God's."
That's truly a slogan to live by.