When we persevere with the help of a gentle discipline,
we slowly come to hear the still,
small voice and to feel the delicate breeze,
and so to come to know the presence of Love.
~ Henri Nouwen
Moving
3 years ago
Showing posts with label Henri Nouwen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Henri Nouwen. Show all posts
Friday, May 4, 2012
The Presence Of Love
Monday, June 30, 2008
Spiritual Courage
Spiritual courage is following the deepest desires of our hearts
at the risk of losing fame and popularity.
It asks of us the willingness to lose our temporal lives
in order to gain eternal life.
Henri Nouwen
Saturday, March 22, 2008
The Best Way to Self-Knowledge
Solitude, silence, and prayer are often the best ways to self-knowledge.
Not because they offer solutions for the complexity of our lives but because they bring us in touch with our sacred center, where God dwells.
That sacred center may not be analysed.
It is the place of adoration, thanksgiving, and praise.
Not because they offer solutions for the complexity of our lives but because they bring us in touch with our sacred center, where God dwells.
That sacred center may not be analysed.
It is the place of adoration, thanksgiving, and praise.
Henri Nouwen
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Infinite Value
A long life is a blessing when it is well lived and leads to gratitude, wisdom, and sanctity.
But some people can live truly full lives even when their years are few.
As we see so many young people die of cancer and AIDS let us do everything possible to show our friends that, though their lives may be short, they are of infinite value.
Henri Nouwen
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Heal Thy Broken Body
Reprinted from Henri Nouwen Society Weekly Reflection -- March 19, 2008
Let my hands heal thy broken body are words purposely placed near a broken crucifix in the Home for the Dying run by the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, India.
The story behind the broken corpus of Jesus is that a mentally ill person, in anger, took the cross from the wall and threw it at Mother Teresa.
In that instant, Mother Teresa picked up the broken Jesus and instructed one of her sisters to place it back on the wall with those words.
It was Mother Teresa who taught me to see with the eyes of my heart twenty- seven years ago, when I went to India to volunteer with her community.
Having been caught up in the busyness of life and building a career, I had paid little attention to the importance of seeing with the eyes of my heart.
I know today that I do not see clearly what is unless I am seeing through the eyes of my heart.
Mother Teresa taught with her own life that Christ dwells in every soul, that God lives within every human person.
In knowing this truth, I must see everything through the lens of my heart.
However, as with many spiritual truths, knowing this does not make it easy, and I struggle to live this truth.
On my journey towards seeing with the eyes of my heart, my prayer is to have the wisdom to know when I'm looking through the wrong lens and when I am indeed letting the eyes of my heart allow my hands to heal the broken world.
- VICTORIA S. SCHMIDT lives in Springfield, Illinois (USA). She has a missionary heart that has been formed by thirty years of missionary work around the world. She currently serves as Director of Theresian World Ministry, an international Catholic women's organization.
On the Journey To Seeing With the Eyes of the Heart
written by VICTORIA S. SCHMIDT
Let my hands heal thy broken body are words purposely placed near a broken crucifix in the Home for the Dying run by the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, India.
The story behind the broken corpus of Jesus is that a mentally ill person, in anger, took the cross from the wall and threw it at Mother Teresa.
In that instant, Mother Teresa picked up the broken Jesus and instructed one of her sisters to place it back on the wall with those words.
It was Mother Teresa who taught me to see with the eyes of my heart twenty- seven years ago, when I went to India to volunteer with her community.
Having been caught up in the busyness of life and building a career, I had paid little attention to the importance of seeing with the eyes of my heart.
I know today that I do not see clearly what is unless I am seeing through the eyes of my heart.
Mother Teresa taught with her own life that Christ dwells in every soul, that God lives within every human person.
In knowing this truth, I must see everything through the lens of my heart.
However, as with many spiritual truths, knowing this does not make it easy, and I struggle to live this truth.
On my journey towards seeing with the eyes of my heart, my prayer is to have the wisdom to know when I'm looking through the wrong lens and when I am indeed letting the eyes of my heart allow my hands to heal the broken world.
- VICTORIA S. SCHMIDT lives in Springfield, Illinois (USA). She has a missionary heart that has been formed by thirty years of missionary work around the world. She currently serves as Director of Theresian World Ministry, an international Catholic women's organization.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
No Ifs
There are no ifs in God's heart.
God's love for us does not depend on what we do or say, on our looks or intelligence, on our success or popularity.
God's love for us existed before we were born and will exist after we have died.
God's love is from eternity to eternity and is not bound to any time-related events or circumstances.
God's love for us does not depend on what we do or say, on our looks or intelligence, on our success or popularity.
God's love for us existed before we were born and will exist after we have died.
God's love is from eternity to eternity and is not bound to any time-related events or circumstances.
-- Henri Nouwen
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Healing Our Own Heart
Forgiving the other is first and foremost an inner movement. It is an act that removes anger, bitterness, and the desire for revenge from our hearts and helps us to reclaim our human dignity. . . . The only people we can really change are ourselves. Forgiving others is first and foremost healing our own hearts.
Henri Nouwen
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Henri Nouwen
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Monday, January 21, 2008
The Voice in the Garden of Solitude
Solitude is the garden for our hearts, which yearn for love.
It is the place where our aloneness can bear fruit.
It is the home for our restless bodies and anxious minds.
Solitude, whether it is connected with a physical space or not, is essential for our spiritual lives.
It is not an easy place to be, since we are so insecure and fearful that we are easily distracted by whatever promises immediate satisfaction.
Solitude is not immediately satisfying, because in solitude we meet our demons, our addictions, our feelings of lust and anger, and our immense need for recognition and approval.
But if we do not run away, we will meet there also the One who says, "Do not be afraid. I am with you, and I will guide you through the valley of darkness."
Let's keep returning to our solitude.
It is the place where our aloneness can bear fruit.
It is the home for our restless bodies and anxious minds.
Solitude, whether it is connected with a physical space or not, is essential for our spiritual lives.
It is not an easy place to be, since we are so insecure and fearful that we are easily distracted by whatever promises immediate satisfaction.
Solitude is not immediately satisfying, because in solitude we meet our demons, our addictions, our feelings of lust and anger, and our immense need for recognition and approval.
But if we do not run away, we will meet there also the One who says, "Do not be afraid. I am with you, and I will guide you through the valley of darkness."
Let's keep returning to our solitude.
-- Henri Nouwen
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Be Yourself
Often we want to be somewhere other than where we are, or even to be someone other than who we are.
We tend to compare ourselves constantly with others and wonder why we are not as rich, as intelligent, as simple, as generous, or as saintly as they are.
Such comparisons make us feel guilty, ashamed, or jealous.
It is very important to realize that our vocation is hidden in where we are and who we are.
We are unique human beings, each with a call to realize in life what nobody else can, and to realize it in the concrete context of the here and now.
We will never find our vocations by trying to figure out whether we are better or worse than others.
We are good enough to do what we are called to do.
Be yourself!
We tend to compare ourselves constantly with others and wonder why we are not as rich, as intelligent, as simple, as generous, or as saintly as they are.
Such comparisons make us feel guilty, ashamed, or jealous.
It is very important to realize that our vocation is hidden in where we are and who we are.
We are unique human beings, each with a call to realize in life what nobody else can, and to realize it in the concrete context of the here and now.
We will never find our vocations by trying to figure out whether we are better or worse than others.
We are good enough to do what we are called to do.
Be yourself!
-- Henri Nouwen
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Finding Solitude
All human beings are alone.
No other person will completely feel like we do, think like we do, act like we do.
Each of us is unique, and our aloneness is the other side of our uniqueness.
The question is whether we let our aloneness become loneliness or whether we allow it to lead us into solitude.
Loneliness is painful; solitude is peaceful.
Loneliness makes us cling to others in desperation; solitude allows us to respect others in their uniqueness and create community.
Letting our aloneness grow into solitude and not into loneliness is a lifelong struggle.
It requires conscious choices about whom to be with, what to study, how to pray, and when to ask for counsel.
But wise choices will help us to find the solitude where our hearts can grow in love.
No other person will completely feel like we do, think like we do, act like we do.
Each of us is unique, and our aloneness is the other side of our uniqueness.
The question is whether we let our aloneness become loneliness or whether we allow it to lead us into solitude.
Loneliness is painful; solitude is peaceful.
Loneliness makes us cling to others in desperation; solitude allows us to respect others in their uniqueness and create community.
Letting our aloneness grow into solitude and not into loneliness is a lifelong struggle.
It requires conscious choices about whom to be with, what to study, how to pray, and when to ask for counsel.
But wise choices will help us to find the solitude where our hearts can grow in love.
-- Henri Nouwen
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Living with Hope
Optimism and hope are radically different attitudes.
Optimism is the expectation that things-the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political situation, and so on-will get better.
Hope is the trust that God will fulfill God's promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom.
The optimist speaks about concrete changes in the future.
The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands.
All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope.
Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like.
Let's live with hope.
Optimism is the expectation that things-the weather, human relationships, the economy, the political situation, and so on-will get better.
Hope is the trust that God will fulfill God's promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom.
The optimist speaks about concrete changes in the future.
The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands.
All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope.
Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like.
Let's live with hope.
-- Henri Nouwen
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Enough Light for the Next Step
Often we want to be able to see into the future.
We say, "How will next year be for me? Where will I be five or ten years from now?"
There are no answers to these questions.
Mostly we have just enough light to see the next step: what we have to do in the coming hour or the following day.
The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark.
When we are able to take the next step with the trust that we will have enough light for the step that follows, we can walk through life with joy and be surprised at how far we go.
Let's rejoice in the little light we carry and not ask for the great beam that would take all shadows away.
We say, "How will next year be for me? Where will I be five or ten years from now?"
There are no answers to these questions.
Mostly we have just enough light to see the next step: what we have to do in the coming hour or the following day.
The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark.
When we are able to take the next step with the trust that we will have enough light for the step that follows, we can walk through life with joy and be surprised at how far we go.
Let's rejoice in the little light we carry and not ask for the great beam that would take all shadows away.
-- Henri Nouwen
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Spiritual Choices
Choices.
Choices make the difference.
Two people are in the same accident and severely wounded.
They did not choose to be in the accident.
It happened to them.
But one of them chose to live the experience in bitterness, the other in gratitude.
These choices radically influenced their lives and the lives of their families and friends.
We have very little control over what happens in our lives, but we have a lot of control over how we integrate and remember what happens.
It is precisely these spiritual choices that determine whether we live our lives with dignity.
Choices make the difference.
Two people are in the same accident and severely wounded.
They did not choose to be in the accident.
It happened to them.
But one of them chose to live the experience in bitterness, the other in gratitude.
These choices radically influenced their lives and the lives of their families and friends.
We have very little control over what happens in our lives, but we have a lot of control over how we integrate and remember what happens.
It is precisely these spiritual choices that determine whether we live our lives with dignity.
-- Henri Nouwen
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Living The Moment To The Fullest
Patience is a hard discipline.
It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict.
Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something.
Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are.
When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are.
We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else.
Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.
It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict.
Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something.
Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are.
When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are.
We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else.
Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.
-- Henri Nouwen
Friday, January 4, 2008
Fruits That Grow in Vulnerability
There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness.
Success comes from strength, control, and respectability.
A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities.
Success brings many rewards and often fame.
Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability.
And fruits are unique.
A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another's wounds.
Let's remind one another that what brings us true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness.
Success comes from strength, control, and respectability.
A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities.
Success brings many rewards and often fame.
Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability.
And fruits are unique.
A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another's wounds.
Let's remind one another that what brings us true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness.
-- Henri Nouwen
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Vulnerable, Like A Bird
Life is precious.
Not because it is unchangeable, like a diamond, but because it is vulnerable, like a little bird.
To love life means to love its vulnerability, asking for care, attention, guidance, and support.
Life and death are connected by vulnerability.
The newborn child and the dying elder both remind us of the preciousness of our lives.
Let's not forget the preciousness and vulnerability of life during the times we are powerful, successful, and popular.
Not because it is unchangeable, like a diamond, but because it is vulnerable, like a little bird.
To love life means to love its vulnerability, asking for care, attention, guidance, and support.
Life and death are connected by vulnerability.
The newborn child and the dying elder both remind us of the preciousness of our lives.
Let's not forget the preciousness and vulnerability of life during the times we are powerful, successful, and popular.
-- Henri Nouwen
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Being Sisters and Brothers of Nature
When we think of oceans and mountains, forests and deserts, trees, plants and animals, the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the galaxies, as God's creation, waiting eagerly to be "brought into the same glorious freedom as the children of God" (Roman 8:21), we can only stand in awe of God's majesty and God's all- embracing plan of salvation.
It is not just we, human beings, who wait for salvation in the midst of our suffering; all of creation groans and moans with us longing to reach its full freedom.
In this way we are indeed brothers and sisters not only of all other men and women in the world but also of all that surrounds us.
Yes, we have to love the fields full of wheat, the snowcapped mountains, the roaring seas, the wild and tame animals, the huge redwoods, and the little daisies.
Everything in creation belongs, with us, to the large family of God.
It is not just we, human beings, who wait for salvation in the midst of our suffering; all of creation groans and moans with us longing to reach its full freedom.
In this way we are indeed brothers and sisters not only of all other men and women in the world but also of all that surrounds us.
Yes, we have to love the fields full of wheat, the snowcapped mountains, the roaring seas, the wild and tame animals, the huge redwoods, and the little daisies.
Everything in creation belongs, with us, to the large family of God.
--Henri Nouwen
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Clinging to God in Solitude
When we enter into solitude to be with God alone, we quickly discover how dependent we are.
Without the many distractions of our daily lives, we feel anxious and tense.
When nobody speaks to us, calls on us, or needs our help, we start feeling like nobodies.
Then we begin wondering whether we are useful, valuable, and significant.
Our tendency is to leave this fearful solitude quickly and get busy again to reassure ourselves that we are "somebodies."
But that is a temptation, because what makes us somebodies is not other people's responses to us but God's eternal love for us.
To claim the truth of ourselves we have to cling to our God in solitude as to the One who makes us who we are.
Without the many distractions of our daily lives, we feel anxious and tense.
When nobody speaks to us, calls on us, or needs our help, we start feeling like nobodies.
Then we begin wondering whether we are useful, valuable, and significant.
Our tendency is to leave this fearful solitude quickly and get busy again to reassure ourselves that we are "somebodies."
But that is a temptation, because what makes us somebodies is not other people's responses to us but God's eternal love for us.
To claim the truth of ourselves we have to cling to our God in solitude as to the One who makes us who we are.
-- Henri Nouwen
Monday, July 30, 2007
Spiritual Dryness
Sometimes we experience a terrible dryness in our spiritual life.
We feel no desire to pray, don't experience God's presence, get bored with worship services, and even think that everything we ever believed about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is little more than a childhood fairy tale.
Then it is important to realise that most of these feelings and thoughts are just feelings and thoughts, and that the Spirit of God dwells beyond our feelings and thoughts.
It is a great grace to be able to experience God's presence in our feelings and thoughts, but when we don't, it does not mean that God is absent.
It often means that God is calling us to a greater faithfulness.
It is precisely in times of spiritual dryness that we must hold on to our spiritual discipline so that we can grow into new intimacy with God.
We feel no desire to pray, don't experience God's presence, get bored with worship services, and even think that everything we ever believed about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is little more than a childhood fairy tale.
Then it is important to realise that most of these feelings and thoughts are just feelings and thoughts, and that the Spirit of God dwells beyond our feelings and thoughts.
It is a great grace to be able to experience God's presence in our feelings and thoughts, but when we don't, it does not mean that God is absent.
It often means that God is calling us to a greater faithfulness.
It is precisely in times of spiritual dryness that we must hold on to our spiritual discipline so that we can grow into new intimacy with God.
-- Henri Nouwen
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The Dynamics of the Spiritual Life
Our emotional lives and our spiritual lives have different dynamics.
The ups and downs of our emotional life depend a great deal on our past or present surroundings.
We are happy, sad, angry, bored, excited, depressed, loving, caring, hateful, or vengeful because of what happened long ago or what is happening now.
The ups and downs of our spiritual lives depend on our obedience - that is, our attentive listening - to the movements of the Spirit of God within us.
Without this listening our spiritual life eventually becomes subject to the windswept waves of our emotions.
The ups and downs of our emotional life depend a great deal on our past or present surroundings.
We are happy, sad, angry, bored, excited, depressed, loving, caring, hateful, or vengeful because of what happened long ago or what is happening now.
The ups and downs of our spiritual lives depend on our obedience - that is, our attentive listening - to the movements of the Spirit of God within us.
Without this listening our spiritual life eventually becomes subject to the windswept waves of our emotions.
-- Henri Nouwen
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