If only …..

We had a good weekend. Visited with some friends and made some new ones. Last night we had a discussion about church and how to be and do it. I went to bed haunted by this quote I read on Greg’s site. If we would only spend as much time talking about Jesus as we do about church…..

This is a Henri Nouwen quote:

“If you were to ask me point blank: ‘what does it mean to live spiritually?’ I would have to reply ‘Living with Jesus at the center.’ There are always countless questions, problems, discussions, and difficulties that demand one’s attention. Despite this, when I look back over the last thirty years of my life, I can say that, for me, the person of Jesus has come to be more and more important.

Specifically, this means that what matters increasingly is getting to know Jesus and living in solidarity with him. There was a time when I got so immersed in problems of church and soceity that my whole life had become a sort of drawn-out, wearisome discussion. Jesus had been pushed into the background or had himself become just another problem. Fortunately, it hasn’t stayed that way. Jesus has stepped out front again, so to speak, and asked me: ‘And you, who do you say that I am?’ It has become clearer to me than ever that my personal relationship with Jesus is the heart of my existence.”