Being the Beloved:
stories of ongoing transformation in daily life
By Wanda Dorsing, Spiritual Director
It was over ten years ago that I first watched Henri Nouwen’s “Life of the Beloved” YouTube video. It resonated with me deeply as it has for many people. It has become a spiritual practice to watch it several times a year. I have parts of it almost memorized and yet, I keep watching. It seems I need to hear again and again that I am the Beloved child of God.
Nouwen says, “To the core of my faith belongs the conviction that you and I are the Beloved daughters and sons of God.” My identity as the Beloved child of God is my “square one” to which I return again and again. And again, and again. It is indeed the core of my faith. But I am so easily distracted--striving for faithfulness, wrapped in up theological pursuits, busy with church life. These have value but they are not the core of my faith.
On one hand, there is no simpler truth than that we are God’s Beloved. And yet, Nouwen is right when he says that it is an “enormous spiritual task to claim that, and to live a life based on that knowledge.” An enormous task for sure! It is much easier to live life with my identity based on…
· what others say about me
· what I do
· what I have
…defining myself based on success or failure rather than living my successes and failures as the Beloved. For example:
· Success . . . When I preached my first sermon, the response was warm and complimentary. I loved receiving the praise and I recognized the temptation to define myself based on the affirmation and compliments I received. I was aware that I was invited to live this success as the Beloved which meant receiving the affirmation with genuine thanks without redefining myself because of this success.
· Failure . . . I put a long scratch down the side of my husband’s new truck, attempting to back it around a tight corner. I should have been able to maneuver successfully but it went all wrong. Frustration with myself was high and my internal dialogue was along the lines of “careless, incompetent, stupid.” As I sat indulging the frustration of my failure, another voice came as a whisper.
“Beloved.” It was most definitely not part of my internal dialogue. That had amped up to drown out this unwelcome word. But it came again.
“Beloved.” I took a deep breath and allowed this word to come into the internal conversation and to wonder: How might I live this failure, this careless incompetent moment, as the Beloved child of God?
These experiences and others like them emphasize for me the enormity of the task, to live my successes and failures as Beloved. The work is ongoing.
If you need encouragement to live your successes and failures as the Beloved, “Being the Beloved” by Henri Nouwen is just a click away on YouTube. Let’s watch!
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