The Wounded Healer

Nenri Nouwen, in his book  The Wounded Healer"  talks about the loneliness of the minister but it can be applied to all of us as we are all in ministry to one another, each of us leading, healing, praying from our own sense of brokenness.

Beginning with the story of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi  asking of Elijah, "When will the Messiah come?" (p 81ff)  he takes us thruogh an exploration of loneliness and the cure "hospitality and concentration ... or rather openness to one another and prayer (openness to God)  It seems to me that Jesus used the isolation and alienation of the Publican in contrast to the Pharisee's self-righteousness to show that those who are open to the action and activity of the Holy Spirit in their lives are those who are truly working for the coming of the Kingdom, the return of the Messiah.  That willingness must however be nourished by a prayerlife that is deep and sincere.  To come back to the story of Rabbi Joshua we must be ready at the city gates to unbind our wounds one by one always ready to be called to serve even at our time of greatest need, knowing always that God is always there to provide for us and to heal us.