I'm reading another book by Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) entitled "Can You Drink the Cup".
It's a book about using whatever we are handed in life to better the world around us...basically. I enjoy his books immensely. There are a few stats regarding his life and some of his quotes found here:
http://www.silk.net/RelEd/ezinenouwen.htm
Nouwen was a spiritual man, a thinking man, a practical man, a man who lived his life by 'drinking the cup' that Christ has offered to all of us. You may get a glimpse of the type of man he was by the title of one of his books "The Wounded Healer".
Of all the authors I have read (not that I have read dozens), he is the one I most relate to. He is honest and open and speaks freely about his personal struggles and insecurities.
In this book "Can You Drink the Cup" he is speaking about what Jesus said to his disciples James and John as it is recorded in Matthew 20:20-23:
20"It was about that time that the mother of the Zebedee brothers came with her two sons and knelt before Jesus with a request.
21"What do you want?" Jesus asked.
She said, "Give your word that these two sons of mine will be awarded the highest places of honor in your kingdom, one at your right hand, one at your left hand."
22Jesus responded, "You have no idea what you're asking." And he said to James and John, "Are you capable of drinking the cup that I'm about to drink?"
They said, "Sure, why not?"
23Jesus said, "Come to think of it, you are going to drink my cup. But as to awarding places of honor, that's not my business. My Father is taking care of that."
James and John really had no idea what Jesus meant by "drinking the cup". They figured that he would be setting up a new, physical earthly kingdom where Rome would be overthrown and the two of them would have important places with Jesus in the new government. THEY H A D NO I D E A!!!
Getting back to this little book I'm reading, in one place Nouwen explains what his upbringing was like when he was quite small in Holland and the first time he was able to drink wine in a family celebration. He speaks of the importance of finding a fine wine, the pouring of it, smelling it's unique bouquet and tasting it's marvelous flavor and following this ritual it was the "lifting of the cup" in toast to the festivities. He goes on to say:
"One thing I learned from it all: drinking wine is more than just drinking. You have to know what you are drinking, and you have to be able to talk about it. Similarly, just living life is not enough. We must know what are are living. A life that is not reflected upon isn't worth living. It belongs to the essence of being human that we contemplate our life, think about it, discuss it, evaluate it, and form opinions about it. Half of living is reflecting on what is being lived. Is it worth it? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it old? Is it new? What is it all about? The greatest joy as well as the greatest pain of living come not only from what we live but even more from how we think and feel about what we are living. Poverty and wealth, success and failure, beauty and ugliness aren't just the facts of life. They are realities that are lived very differently by different people, depending on the way they are placed in the larger scheme of things. A poor person who has compared his poverty with the wealth of his neighbor and thought about the discrepancy, lives his poverty very differently than the person who has no wealthy neighbor and has never been able to make a comparison. Reflection is essential for growth, development, and change. It is the unique power of the human person."
Yes, there is more to life than simply 'downing the wine'!!!! Life is to be lived thoughtfully, prayerfully, purposefully...........not just existing day to day. There is so much more!!!
I shall go now and think more about all of this....
