Thursday, March 6, 2014

Ministry of Time Spent....

Recently, our Dweller Tara highlighted these two quotes.  I think they get at the heart of La Casa de la Comunidad....read them, let them breathe, see how they sit within your heart.  

“More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time and the freedom to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social or spiritual progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.”  – Henri J. M. Nouwen,  Gracias

“The fundamental building blocks of the kingdom are relationships. Not programs, systems, or productivity. But inconvenient, time-consuming, intrusive relationships. The kingdom is built on personal involvements that disrupt schedules and drain energy. When I enter into redemptive relationships with others, I lose much of my 'capacity to produce desired results with a minimum expenditure of energy, time, money, or materials'. In short, relationships sabotage my efficiency. A part of me dies. Is this perhaps what our Lord meant when he said we must lay down our lives for each other?” - Robert D. Lupton, Theirs is the Kindgom