Religion & Spirituality
The Big Idea: Your greatest influence rises from the intersection of your pain and God’s power. 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 The Four Elements of My Story: 1. The DITCH Jesus found me in. 2. The FAITH of my fathers. 3. The BATTLES I currently face. 4. The HOPE I possess. The Gift We Give: HOSPITALITY Hospitality makes ANXIOUS DISCIPLES into POWERFUL WITNESSES. Hospitality requires CONCENTRATION. CONCENTRATION - the ability to pay attention to the other. “For the other person to open and talk requires a withdrawal of the counselor. I must withdraw to make room for the other… This withdrawal, rather than going-out-to-meet the other, is an intense act of concentration, a model for which can be found in the Jewish mystical doctrine of Tsimtsum. God as omnipresent and omnipotent was everywhere. He filled the universe with His Being. How then could the creation come about?... God had to create by withdrawal; He created the not-Him, the other, by self-concentration… On the human level, withdrawal of myself aids the other to come into being.” James Hillman “But human withdrawal is a very painful and lonely process, because it forces us to face directly our own condition in all its beauty as well as misery. When we are not afraid to enter into our own center and to concentrate on the stirrings of our own soul, we come to know that being alive means being loved. This experience tells us that we can only love because we are born out of love, that we can only give because our life is a gift, and that we can only make others free because we are set free by Him whose heart is greater than ours. When we have found the anchor places for our lives in our own center, we can be free to let others enter into the space created for them and allow them to dance their own dance, sing their own song, and speak their own language without fear. Then our presence is no longer threatening and demanding but inviting and liberating.” - Nouwen Perhaps our GREATEST GIFT to our Oikos is to prevent people from suffering for the wrong reason. Response: ● Be brave- show your scars and your story. ● Give the gift of hospitality to your Oikos.