Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Daily Meditation: Losing and Gaining Our Lives

Henri Nouwen Society - Daily Meditation

Tuesday April 30, 2013 


Losing and Gaining Our Lives

 

The great paradox of life is that those who lose their lives will gain them.  This paradox becomes visible in very ordinary situations.  If we cling to our friends, we may lose them, but when we are nonpossessive in our relationships, we will make many friends.  When fame is what we seek and desire, it often vanishes as soon as we acquire it, but when we have no need to be known, we might be remembered long after our deaths.  When we want to be in the center, we easily end up on the margins, but when we are free enough to be wherever we must be, we find ourselves often in the center.

 

Giving away our lives for others is the greatest of all human arts.  This will gain us our lives.

 

- Henri J. M. Nouwen  

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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.
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Monday, April 29, 2013

Daily Meditation: Making Our Lives Available to Others

Henri Nouwen Society - Daily Meditation

Monday April 29, 2013 

 

Making Our Lives Available to Others

 

One of the arguments we often use for not writing is this:   "I have nothing original to say.  Whatever I might say, someone else has already said it, and better than I will ever be able to."  This, however, is not a good argument for not writing.  Each human person is unique and original, and nobody has lived what we have lived.  Furthermore, what we have lived, we have lived not just for ourselves but for others as well.  Writing can be a very creative and invigorating way to make our lives available to ourselves and to others.

 

We have to trust that our stories deserve to be told.  We may discover that the better we tell our stories the better we will want to live them.

 

- Henri J. M. Nouwen  

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Visit our website for inspiration, resources, news, events, community.

New event posting: SAT Summer Sabbatical, June 2013. Click here for details.
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.
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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

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Daily Meditation: Writing, Opening a Deep Well

Henri Nouwen Society - Daily Meditation

Sunday April 28, 2013 

 

Writing, Opening a Deep Well

 

Writing is not just jotting down ideas.  Often we say:  "I don't know what to write.  I have no thoughts worth writing down."  But much good writing emerges from the process of writing itself.  As we simply sit down in front of a sheet of paper and start to express in words what is on our minds or in our hearts, new ideas emerge, ideas that can surprise us and lead us to inner places we hardly knew were there.

 

One of the most satisfying aspects of writing is that it can open in us deep wells of hidden treasures that are beautiful for us as well as for others to see.

 

- Henri J. M. Nouwen  

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Visit our website for inspiration, resources, news, events, community.

New event posting: SAT Summer Sabbatical, June 2013. Click here for details.
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.
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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

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Daily Meditation: Writing to Save the Day

Henri Nouwen Society - Daily Meditation

Saturday April 27, 2013 

 

Writing to Save the Day

 

Writing can be a true spiritual discipline. Writing can help us to concentrate, to get in touch with the deeper stirrings of our hearts, to clarify our minds, to process confusing emotions, to reflect on our experiences, to give artistic expression to what we are living, and to store significant events in our memories. Writing can also be good for others who might read what we write.

 

Quite often a difficult, painful, or frustrating day can be "redeemed" by writing about it. By writing we can claim what we have lived and thus integrate it more fully into our journeys. Then writing can become lifesaving for us and sometimes for others too.

 

- Henri J. M. Nouwen  

Comment on this Daily Meditation.
 
Visit our website for inspiration, resources, news, events, community.

New event posting: SAT Summer Sabbatical, June 2013. Click here for details.
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!

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This email was sent to cbgamb@gmail.com, by email_lists@henrinouwen.org
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