#henri j.m. nouwen

[juliansummerhayes]

“Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions. The real trap, however, is self-rejection. As soon as someone accuses me or criticizes me, as soon as I am rejected, left alone, or abandoned, I find myself thinking, "Well, that proves once again that I am a nobody." ... [My dark side says,] I am no good... I deserve to be pushed aside, forgotten, rejected, and abandoned. Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the "Beloved." Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.” ― Henri J.M. Nouwen

[dk-thrive]

the little flower that shows its beauty in the midst of a barren desert

Learn the discipline of being surprised not by suffering but by joy. As we grow old . . . there is suffering ahead of us, immense suffering, a suffering that will continue to tempt us to think that we have chosen the wrong road. . . . But don’t be surprised by pain. Be surprised by joy, be surprised by the little flower that shows its beauty in the midst of a barren desert, and be surprised by the immense healing power that keeps bursting forth like springs of fresh water from the depth of our pain.

— Henri J.M. Nouwen, “Be Surprised By Joy” in You are the Beloved (Crown Publishing, October 24, 2022) (via Alive on All Channels)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Sunrise, Apalachicola River, Florida. (c) John B. Spohrer, Jr.

[My Forgotten Coast]

* * * * *

Intuitively, we know that it is important to spend time in solitude. We even start looking forward to this strange period of uselessness. This desire for solitude is often the first sign of prayer, the first indication that the presence of God’s Spirit no longer remains unnoticed. As we empty ourselves of our many worries, we come to know not only with our mind but also with our heart that we never were really alone, that God’s Spirit was with us all along.

--Henri J.M. Nouwen

[h/t Candace Chellew]

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Henri J.M. Nouwen - With Open Hands - Ave Maria Press - 1972 (layout by Doris Kohl, photography by Ron P. van den Bosch & Theo Robert)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

* * * *

Gratitude as a discipline involves a conscious choice. I can choose to be grateful even when my emotions and feelings are still steeped in hurt and resentment. It is amazing how many occasions present themselves in which I can choose gratitude instead of a complaint. . . . The choice for gratitude rarely comes without some real effort. But each time I make it, the next choice is a little easier, a little freer, a little less self-conscious. . . . There is an Estonian proverb that says: “Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.” Acts of gratitude make one grateful because, step by step, they reveal that all is grace.

--Henri J.M. Nouwen

'On a Pasture'. Helena Schrammówna. 1932.

[sacred-dwellings]

To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of our loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude. The movement from loneliness to solitude, however, is the beginning of any spiritual life because it it is the movement from the restless senses to the restful spirit, from the outward-reaching cravings to the inward-reaching search, from the fearful clinging to the fearless play.

-Henri J.M. Nouwen

[wayti-blog]

Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to a place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it.

Henri J.M. Nouwen

[kamala-laxman]

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” ― Henri J.M. Nouwen

[decemberwind]

"Theo thời gian, tôi nhận ra rằng cái bẫy lớn nhất trong cuộc sống của chúng ta không phải là thành công, sự nổi tiếng hay quyền lực, mà chính là sự từ chối bản thân.

Thành công, danh vọng và quyền lực thực sự có thể là những cám dỗ lớn, nhưng sức quyến rũ của chúng thường bắt nguồn từ một cám dỗ lớn hơn: sự chối bỏ chính mình.

Khi chúng ta tin vào những tiếng nói gọi chúng ta là vô dụng và không đáng để yêu thương, thì thành công, danh vọng và quyền lực dễ dàng trở thành những giải pháp hấp dẫn.

Thế nhưng, cái bẫy thực sự lại chính là việc từ chối bản thân.

Ngay khi có ai đó chỉ trích tôi, từ chối tôi, hay khi tôi bị bỏ rơi, cô lập, tôi lại nghĩ: “Ừ thì, điều đó chứng minh thêm một lần nữa rằng tôi chẳng là ai cả.” ... [Mặt tối của tôi thì thầm] "Tôi vô giá trị... Tôi xứng đáng bị gạt ra, lãng quên, từ bỏ và bỏ rơi."

Sự từ chối bản thân là kẻ thù lớn nhất của đời sống tinh thần, bởi nó phủ nhận tiếng nói thiêng liêng gọi chúng ta là “Người được yêu thương.”

Trở thành Người được yêu thương mới chính là chân lý cốt lõi của sự tồn tại của chúng ta.

— Henri J.M. Nouwen

---

Ảnh: The Devil #Tarot

[apesoformythoughts]

“Every time you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you the Beloved, you will discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply. It is like discovering a well in the desert. Once you have touched wet ground, you want to dig deeper.

I have been doing a lot of digging lately and I know that I am just beginning to see a little stream bubbling up through the dry sand. I have to keep digging because that little stream comes from a huge reservoir beneath the desert of my life.”

— Henri J.M. Nouwen: Life of the Beloved

[leahweberking]

Trust The Catcher

"I can only fly freely when I know there is a catcher to catch me. If we are to take risks, to be free, in the air, in life, we have to know that when we come down from it all, we’re going to be caught, we’re going to be safe. The great hero is the least visible. Trust the Catcher."

Henri J.M. Nouwen

[juliansummerhayes]

“Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be compassionate. Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering. What we desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from it or finding a quick cure for it.” ― Henri J.M. Nouwen

[yhwhrulz]

Daily Christian Quote 3rd January 2024

Henri J.M. Nouwen February 03, 2024

When Jesus speaks about the world, he is very realistic. He speaks about wars and revolutions, earthquakes, plagues and famines, persecution and imprisonment, betrayal, hatred and assassinations. There is no suggestion at all that these signs of the world’s darkness will ever be absent. But still, God’s joy can be ours in the midst of it all. It is the joy of belonging to the household of God whose love is stronger than death and who empowers us to be in the world while already belonging to the kingdom of joy.

[themindofastrid]

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.

— Henri J.M. Nouwen

[sacred-dwellings]

Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment. There is a quality of sadness that pervades all the moments of our lives. It seems that there is no such thing as a clear-cut pure joy, but that even in the most happy moments of our existence we sense a tinge of sadness. In every satisfaction, there is an awareness of limitations. In every success, there is the fear of jealousy. Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In every friendship, distance. And in all forms of light, there is the knowledge of surrounding darkness . . . But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched by a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy that no one shall take away from us.

Henri J.M. Nouwen, Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life

[5krunnerup]

Joy, revealed

Learn the discipline of being surprised not by suffering but by joy. As we grow old … there is suffering ahead of us, immense suffering, a suffering that will continue to tempt us to think that we have chosen the wrong road. … But don’t be surprised by pain. Be surprised by joy, be surprised by the little flower that shows its beauty in the midst of a barren desert, and be surprised by the immense healing power that keeps bursting forth like springs of fresh water from the depth of our pain.

—Henri J.M. Nouwen, Finding My Way Home: Pathways to Life and the Spirit (Crossroad, 2004).