The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society (Doubleday Image Book. an Image Book)

by Henri J.M. Nouwen

The tragedy of Christian ministry is that many who are in great need, many who seek an attentive ear, a word of support, a forgiving embrace, a firm hand, a tender smile, or even a stuttering confession of inability to do more, often find their ministers distant men who do not want to burn their fingers.

The paradox indeed is that those who want to be for “everyone” find themselves often unable to be close to anyone. When everybody becomes my “neighbor,” it is worth wondering whether anybody can really become my “proximus,” that is, the one who is most close to me.

The great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.

No minister can save anyone. He can only offer himself as a guide to fearful people. Yet, paradoxically, it is precisely in this guidance that the first signs of hope become visible.

A Christian community is therefore a healing community not because wounds are cured and pains are alleviated, but because wounds and pains become openings or occasions for a new vision.