Send in the Clowns

I’ve reading ‘Arrivals and Departures’ a collection of Henri Nouwen extracts put together by Michael Ford, reflecting something of Nouwen’s travels and his restless nature. In the mix, there are, inevitably, some really helpful insights. A little piece from ‘Clowning in Rome’ particularly struck me, a powerful reminder that God.s people are not necessarily to be found where we are looking or where we expect.

This little reflection on the circus helps us see that. “Clowns are not in the centre of the events. They appear between the great acts, fumble and fall, and make us smile again after the tensions created by the heroes we came to admire. The clowns don’t have it together, they do not succeed in what they try, they are awkward, out of balance, .. but ... they are on our side. We respond to them not with admiration but with sympathy, not with amazement but with understanding, not with tension but with a smile. Of the virtuosi we say, “How do they do it?” Of the clowns we say, “They are like us.” The clowns remind us with a tear and a smile that we share the same human weaknesses ... “

Yes, God, send in the clowns - we so need them!