Friday, March 6, 2020

Nouwen Meditation: Take up Your Cross

"Now and Then" Podcast
In our latest episode, Karen Pascal, Executive Director of the Henri Nouwen Society, speaks with Dr. Michael Christensen about what it was like to be a student of Henri Nouwen's at Yale, Henri’s influence on his life, and on becoming a professor who now teaches about the spirituality of Henri Nouwen.

DAILY MEDITATION | MARCH 6, 2020
Take up Your Cross
Your pain is deep, and it won’t just go away. It is also uniquely yours, because it is linked to some of your earliest life experiences.

Your call is to bring that pain home. As long as your wounded part remains foreign to your adult self, your pain will injure you as well as others. Yes, you have to incorporate your pain into your self and let it bear fruit in your heart and the hearts of others.

This is what Jesus means when he asks you to take up your cross. He encourages you to recognize and embrace your unique suffering and to trust that your way to salvation lies therein. Taking up your cross means, first of all, befriending your wounds and letting them reveal to you your own truth.

There is great pain and suffering in the world. But the pain hardest to bear is your own. Once you have taken up that cross, you will be able to see clearly the crosses that others have to bear, and you will be able to reveal to them their own ways to joy, peace, and freedom.
"All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God."

2 CORINTHIANS 4:15 (NIV)
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