Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Daily Meditation: Remembering the Dead

Henri Nouwen Society - Daily Meditation
Tuesday August 26, 2014

Remembering the Dead

When we lose a dear friend, someone we have loved deeply, we are left with a grief that can paralyse us emotionally for a long time.   People we love become part of us.  Our thinking, feeling and acting are codetermined by them:  Our fathers, our mothers, our husbands, our wives, our lovers, our children, our friends ... they are all living in our hearts.  When they die a part of us has to die too.  That is what grief is about:  It is that slow and painful departure of someone who has become an intimate part of us.  When Christmas, the new year, a birthday or anniversary comes, we feel deeply the absence of our beloved companion.  We sometimes have to live at least a whole year before our hearts have fully said good-bye and the pain of our grief recedes.   But as we let go of them they become part of our "members" and as we "re-member" them, they become our guides on our spiritual journey.

- Henri J. M. Nouwen  
Comment on this Daily Meditation.
 
Visit our website for inspiration, resources, news, events, community.

Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter  Find us on Pinterest
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!

Safe Unsubscribe
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

No comments:

Post a Comment