I shared some quotes tonight at Crash tonight that have been affecting me in powerful ways. Some of these I shared pieces of, others the full versions. I am posting them here, so you weren’t worried about copying them down. Some great wisdom in these sentences.
“Never show your weakness, for you will be used;never be vulnerable, for you will get hurt;never depend on others, for you will lose your freedom.”-the words of a friend to Henri Nouwen, Turn My Mourning into Dancing
“To do for yourself the best that you have it in you to do – to grit your teeth and clench your fists in order ot survive the world at its harshest and worst – is, by that very act, to be unable to let something be done for you and in you that is more wonderful still. The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality is that same steel that secures your life against being destroyed secures your life also against being opened up and transformed by the holy power that life itself comes from. You can survive on your own. You can grow strong on your own. You can even prevail on your own. But you cannot become human on your own.”-Frederich Beuchner, The Sacred Journey
“Love is what we most want, yet it is what we fear the most. Love makes us vulnerable and open, but then we can be hurt through rejection and separation. We may crave for love, but then be frightened of losing our liberty and creativity. We want to belong to a group, but we fear a certain death in the group because we may not be seen as unique. We want love, but fear the dependence and commitment it implies; we fear being used, manipulated, smother and spoiled. We are all so ambivalent toward love, communion and belonging.”-Jean Vannier, Community and Growth
“But suffering, suffering unites. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor or black or white or right or left or young or old – if you have the same disease as someone else or if you both have a daughter with an eating disorderor have a brother in jail or had a spouse die or recently were fired – you have a bond that transcends whatever difference you have. That’s what suffering does.”-Rob Bell, Drops Like Stars
As I read and prepared for my talk this week, these quotes came to mind and they helped me process through why we remain so disconnected and distant from one another, even when suffering provides the context to bring us together and create community.
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