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Living Reminders I've been reading and re-reading Henri Nouwen's lectures outlining-- no casting vision-- for a pastoral theology compiled in the short book, The Living Reminder. Nouwen truly saw and lived into the vision. Here's a sample of what is simultaneously challenging and encouraging me:
One way to express this is to say that in order to be a living reminder of the Lord, we must walk in his presence as Abraham did. To walk in the presence of the Lord means to move forward in life in such a way that all our desires, thoughts, and actions are constantly guided by him. When we walk in the Lord's presence, everything we see, hear, touch, or taste reminds us of him. This is what is meant by a prayerful life. It is not a life in which we say many prayers, but a life in which nothing, absolutely nothing, is done, said, or understood independently of him who is the origin and purpose of our existence. This is powerfully expressed by the nineteenth-century Russian Orthodox staretz, Theophan the Recluse:
Into every duty a God-fearing heart must be put, a heart constantly permeated by the thought of God; and this will be the door through which the soul will enter into active life. . . . The essence is to be established in the remembrance of God, and to walk in his presence. (p.28)
This is congruent with the edge of my developing ideas of discipleship. For me it comes down to three primary realities: a narrative theology, trinitarian spirituality and missional trajectory.
Labels: practicing the story
posted by John David Walt | at 10/25/2005 09:05:00 PM
Today...
2 Comments:
wow, John David - missional trajectory. how cool is that. i can "see" the church being sent out with those words
I can not agree more...this reminds me of the life that Brother Laurence lived! Thank you for sharing these words....for they are words of transformation and my moring and day (I will start there) will be changed! thank you!
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