Wednesday, 25 March 2015

Exclusion and Embrace: Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation,
Miroslav Volf, Abingdon Press, 1996, page 141-142

Act One in Volf's Drama of Embrace is opening the arms. This is a bodly-language gesture: reaching for the other. It is a recognition hat the self is not complete without the other and expresses a desire for the other.

A hrald of nonself-sufficiency and nonself-enclosure, open arms suggest the pain of the other's absence and the joy of the other's anticipated presence.

It is also a sign that space has been created - I have made room for you - for the other to come in. This opens a door and starts a journey. It is also an opening - it gives permission for the other to enter; a hole in the wall.

Finally, open arms are a gesture of invitation. Like a door left open for an expected friend, they are a call to come in. No knock is necessary, no question on the part of the other whether she can come in is needed, just the announcement of arrival and stepping over the threshold.