The Power of Powerlessness

THE POWER OF POWERLESSNESS There are different kinds of power and different kinds of authority. There is military power, muscle power, political power, economic power, moral power, charismatic power, and psychological power, among other things. There are different kinds of authority too: We can be bitterly forced into acquiescing to certain demands, or we can be gently persuaded into accepting them. Imagine four persons in a room: a powerful dictator who rules a country, gifted athlete at the peak of his physical prowess, a rock star whose music and charisma can electrify an audience and a newborn, a baby, lying in its crib. Which of these is ultimately the most powerful? The irony is that the baby ultimately wields the greatest power. A little baby can touch hearts in a way that a dictator, an athlete, or a rock star cannot. Its innocent, wordless presence, without physical strength, can transform a room and a heart in a way that guns, muscle, and charisma cannot. Around a baby, as most every parent has learned, we not only watch our language and try not to have bitter arguments; we also try to be better, more loving persons. Metaphorically, a baby has the power to do an exorcism. It can cast out the demons of self-absorption and selfishness in us. This is the way we find and experience God’s power here on earth, sometimes to our great frustration, and this is the way that Jesus was deemed powerful during his lifetime. The entire Gospels make this clear, from beginning to end. Jesus was born as a baby, powerless, and he died hanging helplessly on a cross with bystanders mocking his powerlessness. Yet both his birth and his death manifest the kind of power upon which we can ultimately build our lives. God’s power forever lies within our world and within our lives, asking for our patience. Christ, as Annie Dillard says, is always found in our lives just as he was originally found, a helpless baby in the straw who must be picked up and nurtured into maturity. But we are forever wanting something else, namely, a God who would come and clean up the world and satisfy our thirst for justice by showing some raw muscle power and banging some heads here and now. But that’s not the way intimacy, peace, and God are found. To read more copy this address into your browser http://ronrolheiser.com/the-power-of-powerlessness/#.YD5Zy11KjDY