Tag: Fear

Christian Leadership & Hope Amidst Choas

A brief reflection on the difficulty of Christian leadership, of sustaining hope while caught up in the chaotic whirlwinds of life these days, inspired by the life and writings of Henri Nouwen, who writes: a Christian leader is a man of hope amidst chaos, a woman whose strength in the final analysis is based neither on self-confidence derived from his personality nor on her specific expectations for the future, but on a promise given by Christ Jesus.

Indeed the paradox of Christian leadership is that the way out is the way in, that only by entering into communion with the suffering Christ and the chaos of hurting humanity in your midst, can hope and any sense of relief be found.

adapted from Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer, p77

In the YMCA, in the church, in the community, there is a great need for leaders who can sustain hope, goodness and solidarity amidst the upheavals, violence and even abuse throughout the world.

But it gets tiring, there is too much information to process, too many people to help, too much complexity and ambiguity in each situation. How to do what is right, how to make a difference for the better, how to help heal when so much is uncertain, shaky and even dark?

Henri Nouwen’s little book The Wounded Healer, is a continual fount of wisdom and encouragement in these difficult days of leading and serving.

May these quotes from his chapter on “Ministry To A Hopeless Man: Waiting For Tomorrow” provide some needed perspective on how to be a Christian leader of hope amidst chaos.

For hope makes it possible to look beyond the fulfillment of urgent wishes and pressing desires and offers a vision beyond human suffering and death.

Nouwen, Wounded Healer, 76

A Christian leader is a man of hope amidst chaos, a woman whose strength in the final analysis is based neither on self-confidence derived from his personality nor on her specific expectations for the future, but on a promise given by Christ Jesus.

This promise not only made Abraham travel to unknown territory; it not only inspired Moses to lead his people out of slavery; it is also the guiding motive for any Christian who keeps leading in hope towards new life even in the face of chaos, corruption and death

adapted from Nouwen, Wounded Healer, 76

Leadership is not called Christian because it is permeated with optimism against all the odds of life, but because it is grounded in the historic Christ-event which is understood as a definitive breach in the deterministic chain of human trial and error, and as a dramatic affirmation that there is light in the other side of darkness.

Nouwen, Wounded Healer, 76

Every attempt to attach this hope to visible symptoms in our surroundings becomes a temptation when it prevents us from realization that promises, not concrete successes, are the basis of Christian leadership.

Many ministers, priests, and Christian workers have become disillusioned, bitter, and even hostile when years of hard work bear no fruit, when little change is accomplished.

Building a vocation on the expectations of concrete results, however conceived, is like building a house on sand instead of on solid rock and even takes away the ability to accept successes as free gifts.

Hope prevents us from clinging to what we have and frees us to move away from the safe place and enter the unknown and fearful territory.

It is an act of discipleship in which we follow the hard road of Christ, who enters death with nothing but bare hop.

Nouwen, Wounded Healer, 76-77

…it has become clear that Christian leadership is accomplished only through service.

This service requires the willingness to enter into a situation, with all the human vulnerabilities a human has to share with one another.

This is a painful and self-denying experience, but an experience which can lead a woman out of her prison of confusion, a man from his chains of fear.

adapted from Nouwen, Wounded Healer, 77

For me, in navigating changes in my home, the constant changes in my work, the turmoil of our culture and violence throughout the nation and world, it is easy to despair, to give in to the belief that it is all cause and effect, that the forces out there are too powerful, there is not much we can do about “it” and we are just pawns, and that we are only standing in shifting sand when we try to make a difference for the better.

These quotes of Nouwen are timely, disturbing, and refreshing- it may not alter the reality “out there” but I am encouraged in my spirit, to trust in the presence of the suffering and strong Christ, who is with me, with us, and at work to restore and reconcile all things, in his time and way.

In whatever way I am called to lead, care and serve, I am striving to be attuned to Christ’s brilliant, persevering, and merciful work in the world he loves and holds together.

This is a way my hope as a Christian leader is sustained amidst the suffering and chaos within and around me.

Solutions To Your Problems…

“…the solution of a problem always demands that we descend to a deeper level.”

With whatever problems you are facing in your personal life, at work, or in our society – or maybe all three – it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and defeated.

Even when you feel burdened, there are actions you can take to help turn the tide in a positive direction.

Simple problems require simple solutions, but what about stubbornly complex problems? What positive action can we take to find the wisest solutions and get moving forward again?

The following paragraphs have been transformative for me on how I interpret the problems I face and how I go about finding solutions.

May it be a helpful, healing perspective for you as well.

“…the solution of a problem always demands that we descend to a deeper level.

We must leave the level of conflicts and dilemmas to the level of self-examination under the searching light of God.

We then can understand that a dilemma is a sign; it is a sign that there are deeper discoveries to be made, a new order to perceive which will transform the whole nature of the problem.

True meditation is this descent to the deeper level under God’s direction.

There it is that really new inspirations come, to set us free from our dilemmas, to transform our relationships with ourselves, with others, with God.

Under every dilemma is hidden several fears: the fear of openly resisting, the fear of giving in, the fear of fighting, and the fear of being beaten.

It is love which drives back fear.

All is not thus solved.

Everyday we shall find ourselves before the most perplexing questions, even if we sincerely seek for divine guidance.

Yet these can be for us an opportunity for deeper, inner experience through which alternatives we thought to be incompatible may be resolved in new synthesis.

We used to set doubt in opposition to faith, acceptance to rebellion, self-affirmation to self-surrender, and resistance to giving in. We do so no longer.

Here it is that real life always unites into a marvelous harmony those movements of the inner person which we judged to be contradictory. They are shown to be complementary.

The real believer is not the man who hides from himself those persistent doubts deep down but irremovable. The opposite is the truth: “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

The strong man is not he who hides his own failings from himself, but he who knows them well.

Surrendering our life to God is at the same time our supreme giving-in and our supreme act of self-affirmation!”

~Dr. Paul Tournier, To Resist or To Surrender, pgs 60-1

Don’t Be Afraid; Just Believe

For all of our advances in health sciences and technology, America is the most obese nation on earth, we are literally eating ourselves to death. We make ourselves sick by mostly preventable diseases.

It’s not just what we eat that is killing us, it’s what we believe about what and why we eat. And too often it’s our fears that drive us to eat what will kill us.

For the ancient people of Israel, much of their fear and anxiety was also food related- except they had opposite problem. Malnutrition, famines, harvest tributes to temple authorities, local rulers and Imperial Rome – all of this prompted grinding poverty, blindness, crippling diseases, and early death.

In our society, when so many of our ailments are self-induced, the real healing isn’t from diabetes, cancer, or heart-attacks. The real healing is for the fear and anxieties that fuel our over-eating, that foments disbelief, that deepens depression, that cut us off from friends, family, neighbors and strangers.

In the gospel story for this week’s devotion, we read about how Jesus heals an anxious woman reduced to poverty by paying doctors to help her find a cure for her chronic bleeding. We read of Jesus going to the wealthy home of a respected but terrified religious leader, to heal his dying daughter. They had much to be afraid of. But they still believed.

Jesus came to Israel not just to heal and save individuals, but to gather disciples that would send to heal and save communities. Jesus came not just to heal women, children and men who were afflicted by the lack of food and medicine, but to subvert the systems that starved and abused communities. The salvation from sin he brought was for this life and the next.

Jesus didn’t do miracles in Israel to prove he was God. He healed his people because he loved them, and as a sign of the compassion of God, affirmation that his way leads to overcoming evil and flourishing for all. This is how his kingdom comes, how his will is done.

When we read this gospel story, we read of a Jesus who loves the world, especially those who are poor in spirit and mourn. We also read of a Jesus who leverages his immense power for healing and restoration, renewing bodies and families. He goes to where he is welcome, he blesses those who want it. “Daughter of Israel, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Sometimes we are the bleeding woman, the dying daughter, the grieving father and mother. Sometimes we are the believing disciples, sent by Jesus with the power to heal anxieties, to stir up trust and courage, to drive out fear with love. In our society, that is the healing we really need, what we are pleading for. “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

Let’s form learning communities around the way and will of Jesus, for the healing of our fears, for empowering our faithfulness to God, and for belief in one another, anchored in trust.

Can you name the fears that drive you to sickness? What are the anxieties that are wrecking your soul? Why are you eating yourself to death? What if your mind could be transformed by the will and ways of Christ? “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

May Jesus become present to you, may he connect you to those who will bring about healing for the sickness in your heart, may he embolden your faith, and may his instructions direct our steps towards flourishing for all: “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”