Ik heb pas een boek gelezen met gethematiseerde stukken uit het werk van Henri Nouwen. Dit stuk over ‘displacement’, dat ik maar voor nu met ‘ontheemd zijn’ vertaal, raakten me. Vooral het punt dat het gevoel van ontheemd zijn verbonden kan worden met de zoektocht naar Gods unieke roeping voor ons. Hierbij een aantal citaten die ik uit een langer stuk heb geknipt.

“The Gospels confront us with this persistent voice inviting us to move away from where it is comfortable, from where we want to stay, from where we feel at home.”
“There is an enormous pressure on us to do what is ordinary and proper – even the attempt to excel is ordinary and proper – and thus find the satisfaction of general acceptance.”
“Jesus Christ is the displaced Lord in whom God’s compassion becomes flesh. In him, we see a life of displacement lived to the fullest.”
“Most of us have experienced painful physical displacements. We have moved from one country to another […] in short, from familiar to very unfamiliar surroundings.”
“Our first and often most difficult task, therefore, is to allow these actual displacements to become places where we can hear God’s call.”
“God always calls, always asks us to take up our crosses and follow. But do we see , feel, and recognize that call, or do we keep waiting for the illusory moment when it will really happen? Displacement is not primarily something to do or to accomplish, but something to recognize.”
“To follow Jesus, therefore, means first and foremost to discover in our daily lives God’s unique vocation for us.” (Henri Nouwen, In: Compassion)