Daily Meditation: Love and the Pain of Leaving

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

Saturday August 25, 2012      Love and the Pain of Leaving   Every time we make the decision to love someone, we open ourselves to great suffering, because those we most love cause us not only great joy but also great pain.   The greatest pain comes from leaving.  When the child leaves home, when the husband or wife leaves for a long period of time or for good, when the beloved friend departs to another country or dies ... the pain of the leaving can tear us apart.     Still, if we want to avoid the suffering of leaving, we will never experience the joy of loving.  And love is stronger than fear, life stronger than death, hope stronger than despair.  We have to trust that the risk of loving is always worth taking.     Comment on this Daily Meditation.   Visit our website for inspiration, resources, news, events, community. Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, ©1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible ©1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Photo by V. Dobson.

Forward this Daily Meditation to a friend! This email was sent to cbgamb@gmail.com, by email_lists@henrinouwen.org Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Henri Nouwen Society | PO Box 220522 | St. Louis | MO | 63122 | USA Henri Nouwen Society | John M. Kelly Library, 3rd Fl. | 113 St. Joseph Street | Toronto | ON | M5S 1J4 | Canada