Maybe it’s that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love - Henri Nouwen
Many people have trouble comprehending true power. Some think it is an accumulating of more and more for them as others have to do with less and less. To this some would also add a desire to control, to command and direct those around them. To look at a humble Baby lying in a manger, as we do especially at this time of year, and say this is where the greatest power rests, can seem absurd through a lens of domination and desire to gloat over another’s vulnerability.
Real power and strength, however, is not always what we first expect or want it to be, and it’s not always where we first expect or want to find it. In trying to not subscribe to this strangling and limited view of power, I was led unexpectedly to a little Hebrew girl in the Old Testament who I have come to view as more powerful than those more seemly important and commanding people around her. In this unnamed slave girl, who comes and goes in the blink of an eye in the story of Naaman, King Aram’s leprous army commander (2 Kings 5), I saw an amazing depth of graced power; for in her I saw humility, service, and love. Indeed with God, says Pope Benedict XVI, power is just that—humility, service, love. This little girl, taken from her homeland in a raid, living among a foreign people, had kept her love for God alive inside, and with one small, sincere utterance true power triumphed over dominance: “If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria,” she addresses to Naaman’s wife, “he would cure him of his leprosy.”
Love is the point of departure for power, for true, graced power has no need to challenge, gloat, or endlessly try to gain something at the expense of the other. True power, Jesus shows us, beginning at the crib, is love, and love empties itself, drawing and joining with others to bring life. True power can be participated in by all, and therefore necessitates being accessible to all, unlike the worldly ideal which hoards power. In her love for God, our little Hebrew girl showed how power works. Even in her enslaved circumstance she had hold of something greater within, as shown when she reached out in humble service for the other, helping Naaman to be restored to life.
“If an inner protest should arise here, give it room,” Romano Guardini suggests. This mystery of Christianity goes against the thoughts of our culture and needs to be approached patiently so that we can better understand that what is often presented as power is, in reality, a sad spiral down into selfishness and contempt.
As we turn again to the crib, where the newborn Babe lies, we begin to see, as Guardini did, that “the whole life of Jesus is a translation of power in humility.” Real power is the power to love. In the Incarnation we see Love manifest Itself in the most powerful way—by emptying Itself, taking on flesh and giving of Himself completely for all. From His humble beginning, Jesus’ life was one of gathering, service, healing and bringing others to new life. He didn’t come to dominate, but came so we could participate in His glorious life. Christ has given us power—the power to become children of God, and participate in His life eternally. In contemplating the scene at the manger a new way of seeing opens up; take delight in knowing how truly great is the power of love, how it can radically change your life.
2 Dec 2016
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