Friday, June 2, 2023

Nouwen Meditation: Joy and Resentment Cannot Coexist

Now & Then Podcast

When our relationship with our dad is difficult it can complicate our ability to connect to the Father's love. In this Henri Nouwen, Now & Then podcast, Arthur Boers, author of the powerful new memoir Shattered, navigates the complex terrain of fear and love, shame and forgiveness in the face of generational cycles of rage and violence.

DAILY MEDITATION | JUNE 2, 2023
Joy and Resentment Cannot Coexist
Of one thing I am sure. Complaining is self-perpetuating and counterproductive. Whenever I express my complaints in the hope of evoking pity and receiving the satisfaction I so much desire, the result is always the opposite of what I tried to get. A complainer is hard to live with, and very few people know how to respond to the complaints made by a self-rejecting person. The tragedy is that, often, the complaint, once expressed, leads to that which is most feared: further rejection. . . . Joy and resentment cannot coexist.
"You show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy..."

PSALM 16:11 (NRSV)
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