The Great Danger

These words penned by Henri Nouwen are eternally profitable:

The great danger of the turmoil of the end-time in which we live is losing our souls.  Losing our souls means losing touch with our center, our true call in life, our mission, our spiritual task.  Losing our soul means becoming so distracted by and preoccupied with all that is happening around us that we end up fragmented, confused, and erratic.  Jesus is very aware of that danger.  He says:  "Take care not to be deceived, because many will come using my name and saying, 'I am the one' and 'The time is near at hand'  Refuse to join them" (Luke 21:8).

In the midst of anxious times there are many false prophets, promising all sorts of "salvations."  It is important that we be faithful disciples of Jesus, never losing touch with our true spiritual selves.

Grateful

Remain Faithful At Any Cost

These words written by the late Henri Nouwen seem right on target for us today:

Many people live with the unconscious or conscious expectation that eventually things will get better; wars, hunger, poverty, oppression, and exploitation will vanish; and all people will live in harmony.  Their lives and work are motivated by that expectation.  When this does not happen in their lifetimes, they are often disillusioned and experience themselves as failures.

But Jesus doesn't support such an optimistic outlook.  He foresees not only the destruction of his beloved city Jerusalem but also a world full of cruelty, violence, and conflict.  For Jesus there is no happy ending in this world.  The challenge of Jesus is not to solve all the world's problems before the end of time but to remain faithful at any cost.

Grateful

When We Move Beyond Our Wounded Selves

These words written by Henri Nouwen are worth your time:

When we have been deeply hurt by another person, it is nearly impossible not to have hostile thoughts, feelings of anger or hatred, and even a desire to take revenge.  All of this often happens spontaneously, without much inner control.  We simply find ourselves brooding about what we are going to say or do to pay back the person who has hurt us.  To choose blessings instead of curses in such a situation asks for an enormous leap of faith.  It calls for a willingness to go beyond all our urges to get even and to choose a life-giving response. Sometimes this seems impossible.  Still, whenever we move beyond our wounded selves and claim our God-given selves, we give life not just to ourselves but also to the ones who have offended us.

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"What Makes Me 'Somebody'...?"

On this past Sunday (just hours prior to unplugging from the local pastorate for a season of sabbatical that will excuse me from the pulpit and all church-related responsibility for 8 straight weeks) I shared aloud these words about giving up control and choosing solitude. The words are my personal remix of deep writings from Henri Nouwen. By the expression on many of the faces in the congregation, my vulnerable confession really resonated:

When I enter into solitude to be with God alone, I quickly discover how dependent I am.  Without the many distractions of my daily life, I can feel anxious and tense.  When nobody speaks to me, calls on me, or needs my help, I can start feeling like a nobody.  Then I begin wondering whether I am useful, valuable, and significant.  My tendency is to leave this fearful solitude quickly and get busy again to reassure myself that I am"somebody."  But that is a temptation, because what makes me somebody is not other people's responses to me but God's eternal love for me.

To claim the truth of myself I have to cling to my God in solitude as the One who makes me who I am.

Grateful

Blaming Versus Forgiving

To blame or to forgive? Indeed, that is the question.

Read these words written by Henri Nouwen:

Our most painful suffering often comes from those who love us and those we love.  The relationships between husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters, teachers and students, pastors and parishioners - these are where our deepest wounds occur.  Even late in life, yes, even after those who wounded us have long since died, we might still need help to sort out what happened in these relationships.

The great temptation is to keep blaming those who were closest to us for our present, condition saying:  "You made me who I am now, and I hate who I am."  The great challenge is to acknowledge our hurts and claim our true selves as being more than the result of what other people do to us.  Only when we can claim our God-made selves as the true source of our being will we be free to forgive those who have wounded us.

Lord, help us to forgive and to be...

Grateful

"Stop Judging"

We spend an enormous amount of energy making up our minds about other people.  Not a day goes by without somebody doing or saying something that evokes in us the need to form an opinion about him or her.   We hear a lot, see a lot, and know a lot.  The feeling that we have to sort it all out in our minds and make judgments about it can be quite oppressive. -- Henri Nouwen

Let's remember the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 7:1 -- "Stop judging so that you will not be judged."

Once we are free from judging, we will be also free for mercy. 

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The Holy Spirit Prays and Listens Within Us

When we have received the Spirit of Jesus as the breath of God breathing within us - that Spirit creates in us a sacred space where the other can be received and listened to.  The Spirit of Jesus prays in us and listens in us to all who come to us with their sufferings and pains.
-- Henri Nouwen

Lord, don't let me forget that Your Holy Spirit prays and listens within me.
Grateful

True Relationships Among People Point to God

True relationships among people point to God. They are like prayers in the world. Sometimes the hands that pray are fully touching, sometimes there is distance between them. They always move to and from each other, but they never lose touch. They keep praying to the One who brought them together. -- Henri Nouwen

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We Do Not Belong to This World

Jesus reminds us that we do not belong to this world.  We have been sent into the world to be living witnesses of God's unconditional love, calling all people to look beyond the passing structures of our temporary existence to the eternal life promised to us.

-- Henri Nouwen

 

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A Place Where Fear Vanishes

"The beauty of the Eucharist (The Lord's Supper) is precisely that it is the place where a vulnerable God invites vulnerable people to come together in a peaceful meal.  When we break bread and give it to each other, fear vanishes and God becomes very close."

-- Henri Nouwen

 

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Real Human Dignity

"No peace is thinkable as long as the world remains divided into two groups:  those who give and those who receive.  Real human dignity is found in giving as well as receiving."
-- Henri Nouwen

If we desire to give, we must also be willing to receive and vice-versa.
Grateful
 

Palm Sunday. Passion Sunday.

Passion is a kind of waiting - waiting for what other people are going to do. Jesus went to Jerusalem to announce the good news to the people of that city. And Jesus knew that He was going to put a choice before them: Will you be My disciple, or will you be My executioner? There is no middle ground here. Jesus went to Jerusalem to put people in a situation where they had to say "Yes" or "No". That is the great drama of Jesus' passion: He had to wait for their response. What would they do? Betray Him or embrace Him?
-- Henri Nouwen

Lord, will you please enter
our seasons of passion,
our seasons of pausing...
with Your peace,
with Your presence.
In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Please Love Jesus Passionately!
Grateful 

God's Love For Us Is Everlasting

God's love for us is everlasting. That means that God's love for us existed before we were born and will exist after we have died. It is an eternal love in which we are embraced. Living a spiritual life calls us to claim that eternal love for ourselves so that we can live our temporal loves - for parents, brothers, sisters, teachers, friends, spouses, and all people who become part of our lives - as reflections or refractions of God's eternal love.
-- Henri Nouwen

God is Love. We are...
...Grateful.
 

We Can Choose Joy... Or Not?

Strange as it may sound, we can choose joy. Two people can be part of the same event, but one may choose to live it quite differently than the other. One may choose to trust that what happened, painful as it may be, holds a promise. The other may choose despair and be destroyed by it.
-- Henri Nouwen

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
-- James 1:2-4 (NKJV)

Click here: Larnelle Harris - I Choose Joy - YouTube

ALL JOY!
Grateful

Forgiving Others

Forgiving others is first and foremost healing our own hearts.
- Henri Nouwen

Lord, forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Gratful

Seeking Solitude, Not Settling for Loneliness

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.

-- Henri Nouwen

Lord, help us to seek peaceful solitude with you, lest we settle for painful loneliness on our own.
Grateful

Faithful and True... Everything New.

The beginning of the spiritual life is often difficult not only because the powers which cause us to worry are so strong but also because the presence of God’s Spirit seems barely noticeable.

If, however, we are faithful... (and true...) a new hunger will make itself known. This new hunger is the first sign of God’s presence. When we remain attentive to this divine presence, we will be led always deeper into the kingdom. There, to our joyful surprise, we will discover that all things are being made new.
-- Henri Nouwen

The One sitting on the throne said, “I am making everything new.” He said, “Write this: ‘These words are faithful and true.’”
-- Revelation 21:5 (GWT)

Deo Volente -- Whatever God Wants!
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Where is God?

We have hardly thought through the immense implications of the mystery of the incarnation. Where is God? God is where we are weak, vulnerable, small and dependent. God is where the poor are, the hungry, the handicapped, the mentally ill, the elderly, the powerless. How can we come to know God when our focus is elsewhere, on success, influence, and power?
-- Henri Nouwen

ALL JOY TO YOUR WORLD! ALL PEACE TO YOUR SOUL!
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Keeping It Together

How can we not lose our souls when everything and everybody pulls us in the most different directions? How can we "keep it together" when we are constantly torn apart?

Jesus says: "Not a hair of your head will be lost. Your perseverance will win you your lives" (Luke 21:18-19).

We can only survive our world when we trust that God knows us more intimately than we know ourselves. We can only keep it together when we believe that God holds us together. We can only win our lives when we remain faithful to the truth that every little part of us, yes, every hair, is completely safe in the divine embrace of our Lord.

To say it differently: When we keep living a spiritual life, we have nothing to be afraid of.

- Henri Nouwen

Jesus is our Way of "keeping it together".

Grateful

We Will Hear The Holy Spirit Speak Within Us

When we are spiritually free, we do not have to worry about what to say or do in unexpected, difficult circumstances. When we are not concerned about what others think of us or what we will get for what we do, the right words and actions will emerge from the center of our beings because the Spirit of God, who makes us children of God and sets us free, will speak and act through us.
-- Henri Nouwen

"Don't be naive. Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your reputation—just because you believe in Me. Don't be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they've done you—and Me—a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news! And don't worry about what you'll say or how you'll say it. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words."
-- Words of Jesus in Matthew 10:17-20 (MSG)

Let's continue to trust the Hoy Spirit of the Living God who reigns within us, so that we can live in complete freedom even in a world that desires to give us over to those who would unfairly judge us and incorrectly evaluate us according to their own self-centered motives of rebellion and self-righteous mindsets of religion.

Lord, remind us that You are our Audience of One. Amen.
Grateful