Nouwen

Just finished In the Name of Jesus and thought I would share some with you.

"Bret Easton Ellis's novel Less Than Zero offers a most graphic description of the moral and spiritual poverty behind the contemporary facade of wealth, success, popularity and power. In a dramaticlly staccato way, he describes the life of sex, drugs and violence among the teenage sons and daughters of the super-rich entertainers in Los Angeles. And the cry that arises behind all of this decadence is clearly: 'Is there anybody who loves me? Is there anyone who really cares? Is there anybody who wants to stay home for me? Is there anybody who wants to be with me when I am not in control, when I feel like crying? Is there anybody who can hold me and give me a sense of belonging?' Feeling irrelevant is a much more general experience than we might think when we look at our seemingly self-confident society" (35).

"Somehow we have come to believe that good leadership requires a safe distance from those we are called to lead...Laying down your life means making your own faith and doubt, hope and despair, joy and sadness, courage and fear available to others as ways of getting in touch with the Lord of life" (62).

"Most Christian leaders today raise psychological or sociological questions even thought they frame them in scriptural terms...They think of themselves as enablers, facilitators, role models, father or mother figures, big brothers or sisters, and so on, and thus join the countless men and women who make a living by trying to help their fellow human beings cope with the stresses and strains of every day living.

But that has little to do with Christian leader-ship because the Christian leader thinks, speaks, and acts in the name of Jesus, who came to free humanity from the power of death and open the way to eternal life" (86).