gridblog: generosity...

i don't have much time before class, but this story always comes to mind when i think of generosity.

for those of you who know henri nouwen, you'll know that he is one of the most brilliant minds there is. he is an amazing and respected author, speaker, and teacher. this won't sound nearly as beautiful and poetic as he puts it in his essay "Adam's Peace", but i'll quickly summarize what he did with his life.

in the midst of his career, which was going quite well, he dropped everything he was doing and moved into a special home that cares for the needs of the mentally disabled. the point of his essay was not to say how good he was, but rather to tell of the peace he found there in the midst of these beautiful people. but when i read that story, i couldn't believe that he would do such a thing. one of the people he cares for is named adam, who can't do anything for himself. he describes how it takes him an hour and a half to get him out of bed. he wakes him up, bathes his, clothes him, feeds him, walks him, prays with him, reads to him, and puts him back to bed. every day. same thing. all this he does for no pay, no recognition, no glory. a man who could have easily gone on writing books about spirituality and God, and gone to speaking events to teach other how to come closer to the heart of God, and he could have made a killing doing it too. but instead he decided to live the heart of God in this home that cares for the disabled. that to me is real generosity. i can't say i would ever do something like that. i could write something on here that might make me sound spiritual and similar to henri nouwen, but that would be a lie, because the reality is i am nowhere close to where he is right now. to give your life to someone else. greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. that's one of my favorite bible verses, but maybe it applies to more than just dying for your friends. maybe it means giving everything you have so someone else can have a little more. even someone like adam, who couldn't say thank you, or who wouldn't get better. he would only get worse and eventually die a painful death. but giving your life for the least of these is what true generosity looks like to me. anyway, late for class. just a story for you guys to ponder!