For whatever the reasons, with some folks who are close to me on my mind and heart, I found this waiting from the Henri Nouwen Society reading for Tuesday...April 12, 2005. It is important to read, ponder and pray through at this ultra quiet hour.
The Authority of Compassion
Mostly we think of people with great authority as higher up, far away, hard to reach. But spiritual authority comes from compassion and emerges from deep inner solidarity with those who are "subject" to authority. The one who is fully like us, who deeply understands our joys and pains or hopes and desires, and who is willing and able to walk with us, that is the one to whom we gladly give authority and whose "subjects" we are willing to be.
It is the compassionate authority that empowers, encourages, calls forth hidden gifts, and enables great things to happen. True spiritual authorities are located in the point of an upside-down triangle, supporting and holding into the light everyone they offer their leadership to.
Yet, we see those in our world wield their spiritual authority like a weapon to plunder with. May God chuck them from their thrones. Thank you Rabbi Nouwen. And thank you Wes. Compassionate authority!
Posted by: Andy | April 12, 2005 at 08:15 AM
ah keeping the watch night hours again, eh?
hopefully you're getting some rest and recuperation at other times?? i was recommended 'melatonin' - and 1 mg 20 minutes before sleep has helped a lot in restoring my sleep patterns.
i too loved this thread on the daily meditations - i think that authority is something that needs to be re-defined in the church. palmer's definition is head and shoulders above any i've ever read (AHW pg. 76-77)
"The authority such a leader needs is not the same as power. Power comes to anyone who controls the tools of coercion, which range from grades to guns. But authority comes only to those who are granted it by others. And what leads us to grand someone authority? The word itself contains a clue: we grant authority to people we perceive as "authoring" their own words and actions, people who do not speak from a script or behave in preprogrammed ways.
In other words, we grant authority to people we perceive as living undivided lives."
what stephanie sent out, and the thread from nouwen are weaving together to a post on this soon! :)
Posted by: bobbie | April 12, 2005 at 08:23 AM