Daily Meditation: Travelling With the Eyes of God

DAILY MEDITATION Travelling With the Eyes of God March 31 Photo courtesy of Paul Williamson www.colourbox.ca Travelling - seeing new sights, hearing new music, and meeting new people - is exciting and exhilarating. But when we have no home to return to where someone will ask us, "How was your trip?" we might be less eager to go. Travelling is joyful when we travel with the eyes and ears of those who love us, who want to see our slides and hear our stories. This is what life is about. It is being sent on a trip by a loving God, who is waiting at home for our return and is eager to watch the slides we took and hear about the friends we made. When we travel with the eyes and ears of the God who sent us, we will see wonderful sights, hear wonderful sounds, meet wonderful people ... and be happy to return home. For further reflection... "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" --- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  For who among [humans] knows the thoughts of a [human] except [their] spirit within [them]?  In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. - 1 Corinthians 2: 9 - 12 (NIV) Your response... What could it mean for you to "travel with the eyes and ears of the God who sent you"? Comment on this meditation. Continue the Inspiration Purchase your copy of Henri Nouwen's book "Sabbatical Journey".   Visit our Bookstore: United States | Canada | United Kingdom Consider our monthly giving program to sustain the ability to extend Henri's legacy and make his work available to those who seek spiritual formation and nourishment. Click here to sign up today. 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. Scripture chosen by L. Yeskoo. STAY CONNECTED:

Forward This Email to a Friend This email was sent to cbgamb@gmail.com by email_lists@henrinouwen.org |   Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | About our service provider. Henri Nouwen Society | 214 - 95 St. Joseph Street | Toronto | ON | M5S 2R9 | Canada

Our Spring Appeal - 2018

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

HNS SPRING APPEAL 2018 Dear Friends, I've been thinking a lot about loneliness lately. You may have heard that in the UK a government commission reported that nearly nine million Britons, or 14% of the population, suffer from loneliness. Loneliness has become such a problem that the country now has a newly appointed "Minister of Loneliness".  In Japan, elder loneliness is so prevalent that it has become a recognized phenomenon. And in the United States, a former Surgeon General recently stated that over 40% of adults in America report feeling lonely, and research suggests that the real number may well be higher. As I have discovered through our recent Caregiving Initiatives, many at-home caregivers suffer greatly from loneliness and exhaustion, especially those who have no support network in place. Loneliness isn't confined to any one country or age group. A young woman, a teenager whom I know well, recently attempted to take her own life because she could no longer face feeling alone, unloved and unwanted. This despite her 800 virtual "friends" and connections on social media. The reality of her struggle shook me to my core. Even Henri Nouwen had a life long struggle with loneliness and anxiety, which at one point led to a downward spiral of self-rejection and despair. Yet in true Henri-fashion, he was able to unearth a diamond in the midst of his turmoil. In a journal he kept at the time (later published as The Inner Voice of Love) Henri wrote to himself, "Your loneliness may be revealed to you as the other side of a unique gift. Once you can experience in your innermost being the truth of this, you may find your loneliness not only tolerable but fruitful." Our lonely, hurting world needs the wisdom of Henri Nouwen now more than ever. Your financial support will help us with this very important mission Henri writes so clearly, eloquently, and deeply about understanding the pain of one's loneliness. I hear regularly from people of all ages and backgrounds whose lives have been opened to a newer and richer understanding of God's love in the midst of their pain through Henri's spiritual insight and perspective. Your gift will help broaden our existing outreach When friends and acquaintances share candidly with me, I am at times overwhelmed to learn just how many suffer debilitating loneliness. I also feel encouraged because we have such a rich resource to offer them through the words of Henri Nouwen. Your donation will help to develop new materials and programs to address this pandemic of loneliness I am not naïve enough to think we can heal the world... but I sincerely believe we can make an indelible impact in the worlds where we each have influence: with our families, our friends, our communities, our workplaces, even our churches. Please prayerfully consider generously supporting our work. If Henri Nouwen has touched your life in a meaningful way, your gift will help the Henri Nouwen Society touch the lives of others in an equally meaningful way. From all of us at the Henri Nouwen Society, thank you! Faithfully, Karen Pascal Executive Director Henri Nouwen Society| 1-866-226-2158 | www.henrinouwen.org STAY CONNECTED:

Forward this email This email was sent to cbgamb@gmail.com by email_lists@henrinouwen.org |   Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | About our service provider. Henri Nouwen Society | 214 - 95 St. Joseph Street | Toronto | ON | M5S 2R9 | Canada