CHRISTIAN EDUCATION_Relationship with others_Henry Nouwn
1/23/2014
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Relationship with others
Hostility
- Strangers : people who are unfamiliar, speak another language, have another color, wear a different type of clothes and live a life style different from ours, make us afraid and even hostile.
- Assumption: that strangers are a potential danger and that it is up to them to disprove it.
- Back-stage hostility: doctors, priests, lawyers, social workers, psychologists and counselors.
Hospitality in the Bible
- Ab received three strangers at Mamre(Gen. 18:1-15)
- The widow of zarephath offered food and shelter to Elijah(1kings 17:9-24)
- The two travelers to Emmaus invited the stranger(Luke 24:13-35)
Henry Nouwn said….
- Friendship for the guest
- The freedom of the guest
- The creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy
- Not a fearful emptiness but a friendly emptiness
- Not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place
- Stumbling blocks 1) occupation : busy
2) preoccupation : worries and concerns
- "we can offer a space where people are encouraged to disarm themselves, to lay aside their occupations and preoccupations and to listen with attention and care to the voices speaking in their own center."
Forms of hospitality
- Parents and children: children can ask questions without fear and can experiment with life without taking the risk of rejection
- Teachers and students: fearless communication with each other; revealing and affirming
- Healers and patients: diagnosis as knowing by listening their life stories
Good Hosts
- Need boundaries and confrontation
- The poverty of mind: a learned ignorance; recognizing the incomprehensibility of the mystery of life
- The poverty of heart : not filled with prejudices, worries, jealousness; humbleness
Discussion
How do I experience hostility?
How do I experience hospitality?
Have I experienced the journey from hostility to hospitality? How?
Relationship with others
Hostility
- Strangers : people who are unfamiliar, speak another language, have another color, wear a different type of clothes and live a life style different from ours, make us afraid and even hostile.
- Assumption: that strangers are a potential danger and that it is up to them to disprove it.
- Back-stage hostility: doctors, priests, lawyers, social workers, psychologists and counselors.
Hospitality in the Bible
- Ab received three strangers at Mamre(Gen. 18:1-15)
- The widow of zarephath offered food and shelter to Elijah(1kings 17:9-24)
- The two travelers to Emmaus invited the stranger(Luke 24:13-35)
Henry Nouwn said….
- Friendship for the guest
- The freedom of the guest
- The creation of a free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy
- Not a fearful emptiness but a friendly emptiness
- Not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place
- Stumbling blocks 1) occupation : busy
2) preoccupation : worries and concerns
- "we can offer a space where people are encouraged to disarm themselves, to lay aside their occupations and preoccupations and to listen with attention and care to the voices speaking in their own center."
Forms of hospitality
- Parents and children: children can ask questions without fear and can experiment with life without taking the risk of rejection
- Teachers and students: fearless communication with each other; revealing and affirming
- Healers and patients: diagnosis as knowing by listening their life stories
Good Hosts
- Need boundaries and confrontation
- The poverty of mind: a learned ignorance; recognizing the incomprehensibility of the mystery of life
- The poverty of heart : not filled with prejudices, worries, jealousness; humbleness
Discussion
How do I experience hostility?
How do I experience hospitality?
Have I experienced the journey from hostility to hospitality? How?
Labels:
Christian education,
Henry Nouwn,
relationship
