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Henri Nouwen was a twentieth-century professor, pastor, and prolific author. In his lifetime, Nouwen candidly testified of his own woundedness and healing to encourage others to endure. In this brief article, Nouwen shared his perspective around the relationship of sorrow and joy, The Dance of Life...
"In the world about us, a radical distinction is made between joy and sorrow. People tend to say: 'When you are glad, you cannot be sad, and when you are sad, you cannot be glad.' In fact, our contemporary society does everything possible to keep sadness and gladness separated. Sorrow and pain must be kept away at all cost because they are the opposites of the gladness and happiness we desire.
"Death, illness, human brokenness...all have to be hidden from our sight because they keep us from the happiness for which we strive. They are obstructions on our way to the goal of life.
"The vision offered by Jesus stands in sharp contrast to this worldly vision. Jesus shows, both in his teachings and in his life, that true joy often is hidden in the midst of our sorrow, and that the dance of life finds its beginnings in grief. He says: 'Unless the grain of wheat dies, it cannot bear fruit...Unless we lose our lives, we cannot find them; unless the Son of Man dies, he cannot send the Spirit.' To his two disciples who were dejected after his suffering and death, Jesus says, 'You foolish people, so slow to believe all that the prophets have said! Was it not necessary that Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?'
"Here a completely new way of living is revealed. It is the way in which pain can be embraced, not out of a desire to suffer, but in the knowledge that something new will be born in the pain. Jesus calls our pains 'labor pains.' He says: 'A woman in childbirth suffers because her time has come; but when she has given birth to the child, she forgets the suffering in her joy that a human being has been born into the world' (John 16:21). "The cross has become the most powerful symbol of this new vision. The cross is a symbol of death and of life, of suffering and of joy, of defeat and of victory. It's the cross that shows us the way." Reflect upon a time in your experience when sorrow gave birth to joy.
What would it look like, what would it take, for you to experience joy in the throes of sorrow, rather than merely upon reflection?
How might such a shift transform your attitude, your faith, your life, your relationships?
This week's article was adapted from Nouwen's The Dance of Life, edited by Michael Ford © 2005 Michael Ford |
