Look-Alike Contest Fails to Recognize the Original

Charlie Chaplin was a huge movie star in the silent-picture era. One of the by-products of his popularity were the look-alike contests that sprung up around the country. Contestants attempted to imitate Chaplin dressed as the "tramp" character he made popular in his films. Even the young up-and-coming actor Bob Hope entered such a contest in Cleveland, Ohio, and won.
Legends have sprung up that Chaplin himself took part in one contest. Steve Chandler in his book 100 Ways To Motivate Yourself says Chaplin was on holiday in Monaco when he decided to enter a Chaplin look-alike contest. Others cite the incident as taking place in Switzerland.
Although the event has been embellished through the years, it did occur. Chaplin entered a look-alike contest in a San Francisco theatre. Amazingly, Chaplin failed to even make the finals.
In a similar way, sometimes we do not recognize the truth about God when it is staring us in the face.

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Ending Leadership Erosion

In the March 8th Christian Century, Kyle Childress has written a wonderful piece about the thought of philosopher/farmer Wendell Berry. He quotes Berry: "During the last 17 years ... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though still visible, and this year it has provided abundant pasture, more than in any year since we have owned it. But to make it as good as it is now has taken 17 years. If I had been a millionaire or if my family had been starving, it would still have taken 17 years. It can be better than it is now, but that will take longer. For it to live fully in its own responsibility, as it did before bad use ran it down, may take hundreds of years."
You can find this quote in Berry's The Art of the Commonplace (Counterpoint Press, 2002), a book to which I have returned after reading Childress's comments. Berry is worth reading if you don't mind being knocked off balance a bit. He is not your blue-blooded evangelical, but he gets your attention.
Berry's hill reminds me of some churches and some people. Churches left exhausted, eroded, wasted by careless leadership (Diotrephes in III John comes to mind). People whose personal issues are heaped up to a point where there seems to be no solution (King Saul?).
Berry would be quick to tell you that there has been a whole genre of farmers over the years who have raped the land, draining its topsoil of nutrients and leaving it to the mercy of the winds and the rainy run-off. Then they abandoned it and went on to other places where the agricultural raping happened again. But Berry stayed, and it's taken him 17 years to marginally restore what the farmers before him so wantonly destroyed.
Seventeen years to restore a hill? So how long does it take to truly convert a person then? How long does it take to bring a church-community back from the wounds of disillusionment and distrust?
Berry's a patient man, it seems to me. I visualize him returning to that hill for 17 springtimes and doing a little more each year of whatever it took to bring the soil back to pasture-like standards. And I take note of his humility: "For (the hill) to live fully in its own responsibility, as it did before bad use ran it down, may take hundreds of years."
I'm not sure that most of us have that kind of patience. The God of the Bible does.

by Gordon McDonald

Freedom Attracts

When you are interiorly free you call others to freedom, whether you know it or not. Freedom attracts wherever it appears. A free man or a free woman creates a space where others feel safe and want to dwell. Our world is so full of conditions, demands, requirements, and obligations that we often wonder what is expected of us. But when we meet a truly free person, there are no expectations, only an invitation to reach into ourselves and discover there our own freedom.
Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be.

- Henri Nouwen

Continually Speaking

We are frequently advised to read the Bible with our own personal needs in mind, and to look for answers to our own private questions. That is good, as far as it goes... But better still is the advice to study the Bible objectively, ... without regard, first of all, to our own subjective needs. Let the great passages fix themselves in our memory. Let them stay there permanently, like bright beacons, launching their powerful shafts of light upon life's problems - our own and everyone's - as they illumine, now one, now another dark area of human life. Following such a method, we discover that the Bible does "speak to our condition" and meet our needs, not just occasionally or when some emergency arises, but continually.

- Frederick C. Grant

The Spirit Will Speak in Us

When we are spiritually free, we do not have to worry about what to say or do in unexpected, difficult circumstances. When we are not concerned about what others think of us or what we will get for what we do, the right words and actions will emerge from the center of our beings because the Spirit of God, who makes us children of God and sets us free, will speak and act through us.
Jesus says: "When you are handed over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes, because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you" (Matthew 10:19-20).
Let's keep trusting the Spirit of God living within us, so that we can live freely in a world that keeps handing us over to judges and evaluators.

- Henri Nouwen

Growing Into Our True Freedom

True freedom is the freedom of the children of God. To reach that freedom requires a lifelong discipline since so much in our world militates against it. The political, economic, social, and even religious powers surrounding us all want to keep us in bondage so that we will obey their commands and be dependent on their rewards.
But the spiritual truth that leads to freedom is the truth that we belong not to the world but to God, whose beloved children we are. By living lives in which we keep returning to that truth in word and deed, we will gradually grow into our true freedom.

- Henri Nouwen

To Let the Word Become Flesh

Spiritual reading is food for our souls. As we slowly let the words of the Bible or any spiritual book enter into our minds and descend into our hearts, we become different people. The Word gradually becomes flesh in us and thus transforms our whole beings. Thus spiritual reading is a continuing incarnation of the divine Word within us. In and through Jesus, the Christ, God became flesh long ago. In and through our reading of God's Word and our reflection on it, God becomes flesh in us now and thus makes us into living Christs for today.
Let's keep reading God's Word with love and great reverence.

- Henri Nouwen

Reading Spiritually About Spiritual Things

Reading often means gathering information, acquiring new insight and knowledge, and mastering a new field. It can lead us to degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Spiritual reading, however, is different. It means not simply reading about spiritual things but also reading about spiritual things in a spiritual way. That requires a willingness not just to read but to be read, not just to master but to be mastered by words. As long as we read the Bible or a spiritual book simply to acquire knowledge, our reading does not help us in our spiritual lives. We can become very knowledgeable about spiritual matters without becoming truly spiritual people.
As we read spiritually about spiritual things, we open our hearts to God's voice. Sometimes we must be willing to put down the book we are reading and just listen to what God is saying to us through its words.

- Henri Nouwen

Laying Down Your Life for Your Friends

Good Shepherds are willing to lay down their lives for their sheep (see John 10:11). As spiritual leaders walking in the footsteps of Jesus, we are called to lay down our lives for our people. This laying down might in special circumstances mean dying for others. But it means first of all making our own lives - our sorrows and joys, our despair and hope, our loneliness and experience of intimacy - available to others as sources of new life.
One of the greatest gifts we can give others is ourselves. We offer consolation and comfort, especially in moments of crisis, when we say: "Do not be afraid, I know what you are living and I am living it with you. You are not alone." Thus we become Christ-like shepherds.

- Henri Nouwen

The Shepherd and the Sheep

Spiritual leadership is the leadership of the Good Shepherd. As Jesus says, good shepherds know their sheep, and their sheep know them (see John 10:14). There must be a true mutuality between shepherds and their sheep. Good leaders know their own, and their own know them. Between them is mutual trust, mutual openness, mutual care, and mutual love. To follow our leaders we cannot be afraid of them, and to lead our followers we need their encouragement and support.
Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd to show the great intimacy that must exist between leaders and those entrusted to them. Without such intimacy, leadership easily becomes oppressive.

- Henri Nouwen

On The Journey Toward Claiming my Vocation

This past Christmas Eve was such a blessed experience for me. I have created a custom of cooking a traditional Italian fish dinner and sharing it with the L'Arche home to which I'm connected. I love fussing over the shopping and preparation of the meal, the table settings and ambiance. It is a celebration of some of the best things that I have inherited - love of good food and family, hospitality, doing for others, faith. After dinner, I went to the children's mass at Our Lady of Lourdes. As the rows of pageant angels walked up the aisle, I was aware of the love of family and friends, certainty about who I am and am called to be, and God's love for her people in all our beauty and goofiness.
If my plans as a young person had come to pass, my life would have been wasted. I longed to be the person I thought I must be in order to be loved. I felt that I ought to be emotionally strong, deeply serious about building the Kingdom, a man of prayer... It almost killed me.
I still struggle to live the life of a committed Christian. I am grateful that there are strong, committed individuals out there. We need them. But I too am needed. I am sometimes strong, sometimes messy. I do care about people and community, even if I am often lazy and self-centred. I can pray with depth of gratitude and then forget God for days on end. Through it all, God seems to love me as I am - sometimes that nourishes growth! Thank God.

- John Guido

The Authority of Compassion

Mostly we think of people with great authority as higher up, far away, hard to reach. But spiritual authority comes from compassion and emerges from deep inner solidarity with those who are "subject" to authority. The one who is fully like us, who deeply understands our joys and pains or hopes and desires, and who is willing and able to walk with us, that is the one to whom we gladly give authority and whose "subjects" we are willing to be.
It is the compassionate authority that empowers, encourages, calls forth hidden gifts, and enables great things to happen. True spiritual authorities are located in the point of an upside-down triangle, supporting and holding into the light everyone they offer their leadership to.

- Henri Nouwen

Authority and Obedience

Authority and obedience can never be divided, with some people having all the authority while others only have to obey. This separation causes authoritarian behaviour on the one side and doormat behaviour on the other. It perverts authority as well as obedience. A person with great authority who has nobody to be obedient to is in great spiritual danger. A very obedient person who has no authority over anyone is equally in danger.
Jesus spoke with great authority, but his whole life was complete obedience to his Father, and Jesus, who said to his Father, "Let it be as you, not I, would have it" (Matthew 26:39), has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (see Matthew 28:18). Let us ask ourselves: Do we live our authority in obedience and do we live our obedience with authority?

- Henri Nouwen

Being Handed Over to Suffering

People who live close together can be sources of great sorrow for one another. When Jesus chose his twelve apostles, Judas was one of them. Judas is called a traitor. A traitor, according to the literal meaning of the Greek word for "betraying," is someone who hands the other over to suffering.
The truth is that we all have something of the traitor in us because each of us hands our fellow human beings over to suffering somehow, somewhere, mostly without intending or even knowing it. Many children, even grown-up children, can experience deep anger toward their parents for having protected them too much or too little. When we are willing to confess that we often hand those we love over to suffering, even against our best intentions, we will be more ready to forgive those who, mostly against their will, are the causes of our pain.

- Henri Nouwen

Loving Our Spiritual Leaders

Religious leaders, priests, ministers, rabbis, and imams can be admired and revered but also hated and despised. We expect that our religious leaders will bring us closer to God through their prayers, teaching, and guidance. Therefore, we watch their behaviour carefully and listen critically to their words. But precisely because we expect, often without fully realising it, to be superhuman, we are easily disappointed or even feel betrayed when they prove to be just as human as we are. Thus, our unmitigated admiration quickly turns into unrestrained anger.
Let's try to love our religious leaders, forgive them their faults, and see them as brothers and sisters. Then we will enable them, in their brokenness, to lead us closer to the heart of God.

- Henri Nouwen

Avoiding The Trouble Spots

In her beautiful novel about Maine, "The Country of the Pointed Firs", Sara Orne Jewett describes the ascent of a woman writer on the pathway leading to the home of a retired sea captain named Elijah Tilley.
On the way, the woman notes a number of wooden stakes randomly scattered about the property, with no discernible order. Each is painted white and trimmed in yellow, like the captain's house. Curious, she asks Captain Tilley what they mean. When he first ploughed the ground, he says, his plough snagged on many large rocks just beneath the surface. So he set out the stakes where the rocks lay in order to avoid them in the future.
In a sense, this is what God has done with the Ten Commandments... He has said, "These are the trouble spots in life. Avoid these, and you won't snag your plough."

- John Killinger in "To My People with Love"

A Dependable Love

After Calvary, God has the right to be trusted; to be believed that He means what He says; and that His love is dependable.

- A. J. Gossip in "In the Secret Place of the Most High"

The Storms Of Life

How often we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to Him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven.

- George MacDonald

The Act Of Commitment

In religion, we are not asked to make up our minds, we are asked to make up our lives... We may refuse to make up our minds, but our lives get made up, one way or the other... Whatever we believe with our minds, our lives are committed either to God's way or to the God-denying way, and what matters in religion is the act of commitment.

- A. Leonard Griffith in "Barriers to Christian Belief"

Letting God Lead

When I meditated on the word GUIDANCE, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky. When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music.
One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing lightly in one direction or another. It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other.
My eyes drew back to the word GUIDANCE. When I saw "G," I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i." "God, "u" and "i" dance." God, you, and I dance. As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life. Once again, I became willing to let God lead.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

- Unknown

I saw Jesus

I saw Jesus last week.
He was wearing blue jeans and an old shirt.
He was up at the church building.
He was alone and working hard.
For just a minute he looked a little like one of our members.
But it was Jesus – I could tell by his smile.

I saw Jesus yesterday.
He was at the hospital visiting a friend who was sick.
They prayed together quietly.
For just a minute he looked like Brother Jones.
But it was Jesus – I could tell by the tears in his eyes.

I saw Jesus this morning.
He was in the kitchen making my breakfast and fixing me a special lunch.
Or just a minute he looked like my mum.
But it was Jesus – I could feel the love from his heart.

I see Jesus everywhere,
Taking food to the sick,
Welcoming others to his home,
Being friendly to a newcomer,
And for just a minute I think he’s someone I know.
But it’s always Jesus – I can tell by the way he serves.

by Summer Waters (age 11)

From Blaming to Forgiving

Our most painful suffering often comes from those who love us and those we love. The relationships between husband and wife, parents and children, brothers and sisters, teachers and students, pastors and parishioners - these are where our deepest wounds occur. Even late in life, yes, even after those who wounded us have long since died, we might still need help to sort out what happened in these relationships.
The great temptation is to keep blaming those who were closest to us for our present, condition saying: "You made me who I am now, and I hate who I am." The great challenge is to acknowledge our hurts and claim our true selves as being more than the result of what other people do to us. Only when we can claim our God-made selves as the true source of our being will we be free to forgive those who have wounded us.

- Henri Nouwen

Messengers Of Joy

Christ came to bring joy: joy to children, joy to parents, joy to families and to friends, joy to workers and to scholars, joy to the sick and joy to the elderly, joy to all humanity. In a true sense, joy is the keynote of the Christian message and the recurring motif of the Gospels... Be messengers of joy.

- Pope John Paul II in "The Times of the Spirit"

Being Humble and Confident

As we look at the stars and let our minds wander into the many galaxies, we come to feel so small and insignificant that anything we do, say, or think seems completely useless. But if we look into our souls and let our minds wander into the endless galaxies of our interior lives, we become so tall and significant that everything we do, say, or think appears of great importance.
We have to keep looking both ways to remain humble and confident, humorous and serious, playful and responsible. Yes, the human person is very small and very tall. It is the tension between the two that keeps us spiritually awake.

- Henri Nouwen

On The Journey Toward Claiming my Vocation

Last year I was invited to enter the discernment process for a position that in every way appeared to be the fulfillment of my vocational path. Yet it would require me to disrupt my academic and training programs and leave my home. After months of discussion and prayer, I was indeed "called." Would I come? It is no exaggeration to say that this was the most difficult decision I have ever been asked to make. Both my current work and this new call felt like good and holy paths, with opportunities to live my gifts and to serve others. Both offered possibilities for deep relationships and spiritual growth.
I confess I was not pleased with God for presenting me with this choice. I spent many days on retreat grappling with myself and with God. And then I remembered Henri Nouwen's words to me: "Spiritual maturity is not knowing what to do with your whole life," he said, "but just knowing what to do next." I stopped thinking about it and listened. I listened until it hurt. And then I knew. I must stay and not go.
The ten years since that meeting with Henri have seen dreams fulfilled, dreams discarded, and many, many surprises. I know now that vocation is an invitation to a deep listening that requires a willingness to be interrupted in our plans, shaken in our beliefs, even shattered in our images of ourselves. I know now that we cannot "claim our vocation." "You did not choose me," Jesus said, "but I chose you." We can only dare to be claimed, to live the joy of the yes, and to embrace the reality of the losses that are inevitable in every yes. Then, when we are truly claimed, we must know that this identity too may be interrupted. And this, too, is good.

by Lisa Cataldo

Filled With God's Peace

Saints are people who are faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ... A faithful Christian life exhibits ongoing and active faith. Faith is tested by the tough stuff in life - when the chips are down and the heat is turned up. I read about an elderly woman, badly crippled by arthritis, who was asked. "Do you suffer much?" She pointed to her hand and responded, "Yes, but there is no nail here. He had the nails, I have the peace." She then pointed to her head saying, "There are no thorns here. He had the thorns, I have the peace." Finally, she touched her side and declared, "There is no spear here. He had the spear, I have the peace." This faithful woman was a modern-day saint. She understood the incredible gift of grace given to her by God, and she was filled with "God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand" (Philippians 4:7, NLT).

- Lenya Heitzig and Penny Pierce Rose "Pathway to God's Treasure: Ephesians"

Deeply Rooted in God

Trees that grow tall have deep roots. Great height without great depth is dangerous. The great leaders of this world - like St. Francis, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr., - were all people who could live with public notoriety, influence, and power in a humble way because of their deep spiritual rootedness.
Without deep roots we easily let others determine who we are. But as we cling to our popularity, we may lose our true sense of self. Our clinging to the opinion of others reveals how superficial we are. We have little to stand on. We have to be kept alive by adulation and praise. Those who are deeply rooted in the love of God can enjoy human praise without being attached to it.

- Henri Nouwen

Contagious Kindness

It's 4:00 a.m. I'm headed to the airport for an early flight. I stop at the doughnut shop. Eight or ten truck drivers are standing around. I ask, "Is this a line?" Someone says no, so I order a coffee and muffin. Several dollar bills lay on the counter, and I say loudly "Someone forgot their change." A driver steps forward. I quip, "Thought you were buying my coffee."
He says to me, "Why not?" And to the doughnut man: "I'm covering the man's coffee."
The doughnut man replies, "Nice! I'll throw in his muffin."
My breakfast is a gift from strangers, a serendipitous moment, and such a glad one that for the next several hours I find myself being cheerful and generous to every stranger I meet. SARS may be contagious, but so is kindheartedness.

- Gordon MacDonald

Friends as Reminders of Our Truth

Sometimes our sorrow overwhelms us so much that we no longer can believe in joy. Life just seems a cup filled to the brim with war, violence, rejection, loneliness, and endless disappointments.
At times like this we need our friends to remind us that crushed grapes can produce tasty wine. It might be hard for us to trust that any joy can come from our sorrow, but when we start taking steps in the direction of our friends' advice, even when we ourselves are not yet able to feel the truth of what they say, the joy that seemed to be lost may be found again and our sorrow may become liveable.

- Henri Nouwen

An Intimate And Personal Relationship

"For He said, 'Surely they are My people, Children who will not lie.' So He became their Saviour." (Isaiah 63:8 NKJV)

As the great Jewish theologian Abraham Heschel put it in "The Prophets", "To the prophet, God does not reveal Himself in an abstract absoluteness, but in a personal and intimate relation to the world. He does not simply command and expect obedience; He is also moved and affected by what happens in the world, and reacts accordingly. Events and human actions arouse in Him joy or sorrow, pleasure or wrath... Man's deeds may move Him, affect Him, grieve Him or, on the other hand, gladden and please Him. ...the God of Israel is a God Who loves, a God Who is known to, and concerned with, man. He not only rules the world in the majesty of His might and wisdom, but reacts intimately to the events of history."
More than any other word pictures, God chooses "children" and "lovers" to describe our relationship with Him as being intimate and personal.

- Philip Yancey in "The Bible Jesus Read"

Daring to Become Dependent

When someone gives us a watch but we never wear it, the watch is not really received. When someone offers us an idea but we do not respond to it, that idea is not truly received. When someone introduces us to a friend but we ignore him or her, that friend does not feel well received.
Receiving is an art. It means allowing the other to become part of our lives. It means daring to become dependent on the other. It asks for the inner freedom to say: "Without you I wouldn't be who I am." Receiving with the heart is therefore a gesture of humility and love. So many people have been deeply hurt because their gifts were not well received. Let us be good receivers.

- Henri Nouwen

The Importance of Receiving

Receiving often is harder than giving. Giving is very important: giving insight, giving hope, giving courage, giving advice, giving support, giving money, and, most of all, giving ourselves. Without giving there is no brotherhood and sisterhood.
But receiving is just as important, because by receiving we reveal to the givers that they have gifts to offer. When we say, "Thank you, you gave me hope; thank you, you gave me a reason to live; thank you, you allowed me to realise my dream," we make givers aware of their unique and precious gifts. Sometimes it is only in the eyes of the receivers that givers discover their gifts.

- Henri Nouwen

The Dignity to Give and Receive

"Nobody is so poor that he/she has nothing to give, and nobody is so rich that he/she has nothing to receive." These words by Pope John-Paul II, offer a powerful direction for all who want to work for peace. No peace is thinkable as long as the world remains divided into two groups: those who give and those who receive. Real human dignity is found in giving as well as receiving. This is true not only for individuals but for nations, cultures, and religious communities as well.
A true vision of peace sees a continuous mutuality between giving and receiving. Let's never give anything without asking ourselves what we are receiving from those to whom we give, and let's never receive anything without asking what we have to give to those from whom we receive.

- Henri Nouwen

The Beauty of Shyness

There is something beautiful about shyness, even though in our culture shyness is not considered a virtue. On the contrary, we are encouraged to be direct, look people straight in the eyes, tell them what is on our minds, and share our stories without a blush.
But this unflinching soul-baring, confessional attitude quickly becomes boring. It is like trees without shadows. Shy people have long shadows, where they keep much of their beauty hidden from intruders' eyes. Shy people remind us of the mystery of life that cannot be simply explained or expressed. They invite us to reverent and respectful friendships and to a wordless being together in love.

- Henri Nouwen

Foolishness

"Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe... We proclaim Christ crucified,... Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength." (1 Corinthians 1:20b-25 NRSV)
Scripture nowhere condemns the acquisition of knowledge. It is the wisdom of this world, not its knowledge, that is foolishness with God... The history of philosophy is a story of contradictory, discarded hypotheses... Many of them have failed to avail themselves of that which would unravel every knot and solve every problem, namely, the revelation of God in Christ as given in the Holy Scriptures.

- Harry A. Ironside

A Guide For Our Path

Mahatma Gandhi once said, "The various religions are like different roads converging on the same point. What difference does it make if we follow different routes, provided we arrive at the same destination." I find it interesting to note that he qualified his statement by concluding, "provided we arrive at the same destination". That seems like an enormous proviso. What if one's religion doesn't get them where they want to go, namely to be with God in heaven? It's a little late at that point to get on a different road.
I guess I would rather place my proviso on the One who had been there all ready, and had come to guide us there. 1 John 4:14 says, "We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." Jesus, the risen Christ, said of Himself, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)

- Rev. David T. Wilkinson

Who was Jesus?

He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life.
Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water.
Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest.
Jesus paid tribute, yet He is the King.
Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons.
Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears.
Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world.
Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.
Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death.

- Gregory of Nazianzus, A.D. 381

The Hands And Feet Of Christ

Jesus' hands and feet were not just anyone's hand and feet, but the signs of His real bodily presence. They were the hands and feet of Jesus marked with the wounds of His Crucifixion. It is of great spiritual importance that Jesus made Himself known to His disciples by showing them His wounded body. The Resurrection had not taken His wounds away, but, rather, they had become part of His Glory. They had become glorified wounds.
Jesus is the Lord who came to save us by dying for us on the Cross. The wounds in Jesus' glorified body remind us of the way in which we are saved. But they also remind us that our own wounds are much more than roadblocks on our way to God. They show us our own unique way to follow the suffering Christ, and they are destined to become glorified in our resurrected life. Just as Jesus was identified by His wounds, so are we.
This mystery is hard to grasp, but it is of the greatest importance in helping us to deal with our own brokenness.

- Henri Nouwen

Travelling With the Eyes of God

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.

by Henri Nouwen

Smiles Breaking Through Tears

Dying is a gradual diminishing and final vanishing over the horizon of life. When we watch a sailboat leaving port and moving toward the horizon, it becomes smaller and smaller until we can no longer see it. But we must trust that someone is standing on a faraway shore seeing that same sailboat become larger and larger until it reaches its new harbor. Death is a painful loss. When we return to our homes after a burial, our hearts are in grief. But when we think about the One standing at the other shore eagerly waiting to welcome our beloved friend into a new home, a smile can break through our tears.

by Henri Nouwen

On The Journey Towards Responsibility

It's easy to break the word responsibility down into its parts, 'ability to respond.' But to see how we can live that out takes attention to the people and teachings in our lives.
Frank, a friend of mine with Down syndrome, put me straight about my ability to respond when he heard me bad-mouthing Paul. He said, "If you want to help Paul, you have to love him!"
My eldest sister, Joan, demonstrated another type of ability to respond. After losses of friends, income, and health, at age eighty-four she moved from California to Canada to be closer to family. Unable to bring her car, she learned the subway. Unaccustomed to winter, she bought cold-weather clothes. Then she joined a church, a bridge club, the library, and the art gallery, where she made new friends and established a whole new life.
Look at the two great commandments - love God, and love your neighbour as yourself - as priorities in becoming a responsible human being. And see how Jesus lived them out (Luke 6:12-19): "Jesus went onto the mountain to pray and spent the whole night in prayer to God." Presenting ourselves to receive and give love to God in prayer is first.
"When day came he summoned his disciples and picked twelve of them." Belonging to families and communities that teach us self-love in truth and humility, with compassion and forgiveness, is second.
"He came down with them and stopped . . . where a large gathering of people had come to be cured of their diseases... Power went out from him and cured them all." In communion with God and others, we walk amidst pain in the world and respond with compassion.

by Sue Mosteller

The Meaning Of Easter

Easter never fails us. Even in the worst of times, amidst destruction, death and despair, Easter arrives as surely as daybreak, boldly proclaiming the message of renewal and hope.
...Biblical accounts of the first Easter Sunday have proven to be a powerful source of inspiration and transformation. The world was never the same again. The blood stained linen wrappings and the empty tomb ushered in a radically different era of brave new beginnings. The message of love, faith and hope still resonates across the globe [in the midst of world tragedies].
Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said in "The Brothers Karamazov": "Without God, everything becomes permissible." But Easter declares: "With God, everything becomes possible." That means hope - hope that transcends our limitations and triumphs over our worst fears. Easter epitomizes the kind of tragic optimism that cannot be crushed by all the forces of darkness, including death. This is the true meaning of Easter!

- Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D., C.Psych., Trinity Western University

The Autumn of Life

The autumn leaves can dazzle us with their magnificent colors: deep red, purple, yellow, gold, bronze, in countless variations and combinations. Then, shortly after having shown their unspeakable beauty, they fall to the ground and die. The barren trees remind us that winter is near. Likewise, the autumn of life has the potential to be very colorful: wisdom, humor, care, patience, and joy may bloom splendidly just before we fall to the ground and die.
As we look at the barren trees and remember our dead, let us be grateful for the beauty we saw in them and wait hopefully for a new spring.

by Henri Nouwen

Resurrection Power

"God will raise our bodies from the dead by His marvelous power, just as He raised our Lord from the dead." (Ephesians 6:14 NLT)
Think about the greatest manifestation of power you could witness. Perhaps a hurricane or tornado came to mind, maybe an earthquake or an atomic bomb. I read about something more powerful than any of these. On May 18, 1980, there was an incredible explosion, estimated at 500 times the force of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. The blast ripped 1,200 feet off the top of a 9,700-foot volcano name Mount Saint Helens. Within one minute a cloud of ash blocked out the sin. Sports Illustrated reported that the "heat, blast and ash destroyed 26 lakes, 154 miles of resident trout streams and 195 square acres of wildlife habitat."
That display of raw power is impressive. However, the Bible tells us that the presence of our God could make not only Mount Saint Helens crumble but also all the mountains known on earth. The psalmist wrote, "The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth" (Psalm 97:5, NLT). God is an awesome and powerful God, Creator of both heaven and earth. Ephesians teaches us that the greatest manifestation of God's power was not for destruction but for the resurrection of Christ from the dead!

- Lenya Heitzig and Penny Pierce Rose in "Pathway to God's Treasure: Ephesians"

Where Mourning and Dancing Touch Each Other

"[There is] a time for mourning, a time for dancing" (Ecclesiastes 3:4). But mourning and dancing are never fully separated. Their "times" do not necessarily follow each other. In fact, their "times" may become one "time." Mourning may turn into dancing and dancing into mourning without showing a clear point where one ends and the other starts.
Often our grief allows us to choreograph our dance while our dance creates the space for our grief. We lose a beloved friend, and in the midst of our tears we discover an unknown joy. We celebrate a success, and in the midst of the party we feel deep sadness. Mourning and dancing, grief and laughter, sadness and gladness - they belong together as the sad-faced clown and the happy-faced clown, who make us both cry and laugh. Let's trust that the beauty of our lives becomes visible where mourning and dancing touch each other.

by Henri Nouwen

Living Faithfully in an Ambiguous World

Our hearts and minds desire clarity. We like to have a clear picture of a situation, a clear view of how things fit together, and clear insight into our own and the world's problems. But just as in nature colours and shapes mingle without clear-cut distinctions, human life doesn't offer the clarity we are looking for. The borders between love and hate, evil and good, beauty and ugliness, heroism and cowardice, care and neglect, guilt and blamelessness are mostly vague, ambiguous, and hard to discern.
It is not easy to live faithfully in a world full of ambiguities. We have to learn to make wise choices without needing to be entirely sure.

by Henri Nouwen

The Saturday Obituary Of Jesus Of Nazareth

Jesus Christ, 33, of Nazareth, died Friday on Mount Calvary, also known as Golgotha, the place of the skull. Betrayed by the apostle Judas, Jesus was crucified by the Romans, by order of the Ruler Pontius Pilate. The causes of death were crucifixion, extreme exhaustion, severe torture, and loss of blood.
Jesus Christ, a descendant of Abraham, was a member of the house of David. He was the son of the late Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth, and Mary, his devoted Mother. Jesus was born in a stable in the city of Bethlehem, Judea. Humble beginnings for one who, at the time of his death, was labeled "King of the Jews". He is survived by his mother Mary, his brothers including James, John the beloved, his other faithful disciples, and many other followers. It was thought that Peter would be one of his staunchest supporters, but he denied Jesus, not once but three times.
Jesus was self educated and spent most of his adult life working as a carpenter and later a teacher. Jesus also occasionally worked as a medical doctor and it is reported that he healed many patients. Up until the time of his death, Jesus was teaching and sharing his Good News, healing the sick, touching the lonely, feeding the hungry, and helping the poor.
Jesus was most noted for telling parables about his Father's Kingdom and performing miracles, such as feeding over 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish, and healing a man who was born blind. On Thursday, the night before his death, he held a last supper celebrating the Passover Feast, at which he reportedly washed his disciples feet and foretold his death.
The body was quickly buried in a stone grave, which was donated by Joseph of Arimathea, a loyal friend of the family. By order of Pontius Pilate, a boulder was rolled in front of the tomb. Roman soldiers were put on guard and remain there today.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that everyone try to live as Jesus did. Donations may be sent to anyone in need.
Jesus Christ had such a promising ministry. It is too bad it had to end this way.

author unknown

Becoming Friends of Our Children

Can fathers and mothers become friends of their children? Many children leave their parents to find freedom and independence and return to them only occasionally. When they return they often feel like children again and therefore do not want to stay long. Many parents worry about children's well-being after they have left home. When their children visit they want to be caring parents again.
But a mother can also become the daughter of her daughter and a father the son of his son. A mother can become the daughter of her son and a father the son of his daughter. Father and mother become brother and sister of their own children, and they all can become friends. It doesn't happen often, but when it does happen it is as beautiful to watch as the dawn of a new day.

– Henri Nouwen

Ransomed And Forgiven

Christ came to earth for one reason: to give His life as a ransom for you, for me, for all of us. He sacrificed Himself to give us a second chance. He would have gone to any lengths to do so. And He did. He went to the cross, where man's utter despair collided with God's unbending grace. And in that moment when God's great gift was complete, the compassionate Christ showed the world the cost of His gift...
He who was perfect gave that perfect record to us, and our imperfect record was given to Him. Jesus was "not guilty, but He suffered for those who are guilty to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18). As a result, God's holiness is honored and His children are forgiven.

- Max Lucado in "The Gift for All People"

Friendship in the Twilight Zones of Our Heart

There is a twilight zone in our own hearts that we ourselves cannot see. Even when we know quite a lot about ourselves - our gifts and weaknesses, our ambitions and aspirations, our motives and drives - large parts of ourselves remain in the shadow of consciousness.
This is a very good thing. We always will remain partially hidden to ourselves. Other people, especially those who love us, can often see our twilight zones better than we ourselves can. The way we are seen and understood by others is different from the way we see and understand ourselves. We will never fully know the significance of our presence in the lives of our friends. That's a grace, a grace that calls us not only to humility but also to a deep trust in those who love us. It is in the twilight zones of our hearts where true friendships are born.

by Henri Nouwen

Workaholics 23rd Psalm

The Lord is my foreman, I shall not rest.
He makes me mow down the green pastures.
He leads me to generators beside rapid waters.
He wears out my soul.
He shoves me to conferences for my schedule's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of relaxation,
I fear no chance of rest;
For my feelings of guilt, They haunt me.
Thou dost prepare a work table before me.
In the presence of my comrades.
Thou has filled my mind with worry;
My workload overflows.
Surely busyness and pressure will follow me,
All the days of my life,
And I will run to and fro
In the house of the Lord forever.

by Edward J. Vasicek

Sharing Our Solitude

A friend is more than a therapist or a confessor, even though a friend can sometimes heal us and offer us God's forgiveness.
A friend is that other person with whom we can share our solitude, our silence, and our prayer. A friend is that other person with whom we can look at a tree and say, "Isn't that beautiful," or sit on the beach and silently watch the sun disappear under the horizon. With a friend we don't have to say or do something special. With a friend we can be still and know that God is there with both of us.

by Henri Nouwen

On The Journey Towards Responsibility

There is an old Hasidic saying that people should carefully observe which way their hearts draw them, and then choose that way with all their strength. I have come to appreciate the wisdom of this advice as I learn to be a good parent. Raising a family carries responsibilities that I used to think were beyond my handling. But as my wife, Clara, and I bring up three children under the age of four, I am realizing that I can best influence them in a positive way when I connect to them from the places of my own passion and strength. I have discovered the joys of co-creating stories with my son and sharing language and rhythm with my daughters.
For instance, I can engage my son's imagination and persuade him to choose to eat that plate of beans as I tell a story about Salvador and the Bean Eating Giant. Storytelling does not absolve me from learning good parenting techniques, but I am grateful I have discovered a personal approach that connects with my son and daughters.
Raising our children seems possible to the extent I ask for and am open to support from family and friends, surrender to God's strength and love, and remember the tools that have helped me handle earlier obligations in my life. I see that my passions and enthusiasms are gifts to share with my family and resources with which to live out my responsibilities.

by Tim Greenwood

Great Sorrow

I love the story of a little girl named Ruth, who was sent on an errand by her mother. She was gone for such a long time that her mother became frantic with worry. When Ruth finally returned, her mother hugged her tightly, asking, "Where have you been? What took you so long?"
Ruth replied, "On my way home I saw Sally sitting in front of her house. She was crying because her doll was broken."
"So," said the mother, "you stopped to help her fix her doll?"
"Oh no!" replied Ruth, "I stopped to help her cry."
Jesus said, "The greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends" (John 15:13, NLT). He saw that our sins caused great sorrow, so He stopped and shed not tears, but His blood, for our sins.

- Lenya Heitzig and Penny Pierce Rose in Pathway to God's Treasure: Ephesians

The Healing Touch

Touch, yes, touch, speaks the wordless words of love. We receive so much touch when we are babies and so little when we are adults. Still, in friendship touch often gives more life than words. A friend's hand stroking our back, a friend's arms resting on our shoulder, a friend's fingers wiping our tears away, a friend's lips kissing our forehead - these are true consolation. These moments of touch are truly sacred. They restore, they reconcile, they reassure, they forgive, they heal.
Everyone who touched Jesus and everyone whom Jesus touched were healed. God's love and power went out from him (see Luke 6:19). When a friend touches us with free, nonpossessive love, it is God's incarnate love that touches us and God's power that heals us.

by Henri Nouwen

Seven Last Statements

Christ made His love for the world passionately evident in these last statements from the cross...
"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Do you realize that you are in need of the Father's forgiveness?
"Today you will be with Me in Paradise." Have you realized and confessed Jesus as your personal Saviour?
"Woman, behold your son." Jesus is concerned and provides for all of us.
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Jesus was forsaken so we don't have to be.
"I thirst!" This personal statement reminds us that Jesus is not only God, but He also was man. Jesus identifies with our needs.
"It is finished." Our sin is paid for and sin's control over our lives is broken!
"Into Your hands I commit My spirit." You can entrust your life to God's hands.

- Greg Laurie in "Why the Passion?"

Forever Worthy

Dear God,
I have sinned
Against Heaven
And against You.
I am no longer worthy to be called Your child.

Child,
I know... I know...
But My Son
Is forever worthy
To be called Your Saviour.

- Ruth Harms Calkin in "Lord, You Love to Say Yes"

The Ways to Self-knowledge

"Know yourself" is good advice. But to know ourselves doesn't mean to analyse ourselves. Sometimes we want to know ourselves as if we were machines that could be taken apart and put back together at will. At certain critical times in our lives it might be helpful to explore in some detail the events that led us to our crises, but we make a mistake when we think that we can ever completely understand ourselves and explain the full meaning of our lives to others.
Solitude, silence, and prayer are often the best ways to self-knowledge. Not because they offer solutions for the complexity of our lives but because they bring us in touch with our sacred center, where God dwells. That sacred center may not be analysed. It is the place of adoration, thanksgiving, and praise.

by Henri Nouwen

Don't Blame It On The Twinkies!

"If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong doing." (1 John 1:9 NLT)
To confess means to own up to the fact that our behaviour wasn't just the result of bad parenting, poor genes, jealous siblings, or a chemical imbalance from too many Twinkies. Any or all of those factors may be involved. Human behaviour is a complex thing. But confession means saying that somewhere in the mix was a choice, and the choice was made by us, and it does not need to be excused, explained, or even understood. The choice needs to be forgiven. The slate has to be wiped clean.

- John Ortberg in "The Life You've Always Wanted"

Claiming the Sacredness of Our Being

Are we friends with ourselves? Do we love who we are? These are important questions because we cannot develop good friendships with others unless we have befriended ourselves.
How then do we befriend ourselves? We have to start by acknowledging the truth of ourselves. We are beautiful but also limited, rich but also poor, generous but also worried about our security. Yet beyond all that we are people with souls, sparks of the divine. To acknowledge the truth of ourselves is to claim the sacredness of our being, without fully understanding it. Our deepest being escapes our own mental or emotional grasp. But when we trust that our souls are embraced by a loving God, we can befriend ourselves and reach out to others in loving relationships.

by Henri Nouwen

A Still Place in the Market

"Be still and acknowledge that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). These are words to take with us in our busy lives. We may think about stillness in contrast to our noisy world. But perhaps we can go further and keep an inner stillness even while we carry on business, teach, work in construction, make music, or organise meetings.
It is important to keep a still place in the "marketplace." This still place is where God can dwell and speak to us. It also is the place from where we can speak in a healing way to all the people we meet in our busy days. Without that still space we start spinning. We become driven people, running all over the place without much direction. But with that stillness God can be our gentle guide in everything we think, say, or do.

by Henri Nouwen

Are You In The Will?

Have you dreamed about inheriting treasures from a long lost relative? To be "in the will" would change your life forever! Consider the rags-to-riches story of Jack Wurm. In 1949, Mr. Wurm was unemployed and bankrupt. As he strolled along a San Francisco beach, he found a bottle with a scroll inside. He discovered that this "message in a bottle" was the last will and testament of Daisy Singer Alexander, heiress to the Singer Sewing Company fortune.
The faded paper read: "To avoid confusion, I leave my entire estate to the lucky person who finds this bottle, and to my attorney, Barry Cohen; share and share alike." The courts discovered that she had written the note and thrown the bottle into the Thames River in London. It had drifted across the oceans to San Francisco and reached a penniless Jack Wurm. Jack inherited over $6 million in cash and Singer stock.
Similarly, God has sent us a "message in a Bible." Within this book you'll find the "last will and testament of our Lord" with a different kind of inheritance - spiritual treasures. How will you respond? Will you walk past it? Or, like Jack Wurm, will you step out in faith and take action? Failure to take God's promises seriously leads to spiritual poverty. Jack's inheritance can't begin to compare with the spiritual wealth God offers His heirs!

- Lenya Heitzig and Penny Pierce Rose in "Pathway to God's Treasure: Ephesians"

Coming Together in Poverty

There are many forms of poverty: economic poverty, physical poverty, emotional poverty, mental poverty, and spiritual poverty. As long as we relate primarily to each other's wealth, health, stability, intelligence, and soul strength, we cannot develop true community. Community is not a talent show in which we dazzle the world with our combined gifts. Community is the place where our poverty is acknowledged and accepted, not as something we have to learn to cope with as best as we can but as a true source of new life.
Living community in whatever form - family, parish, twelve-step program, or intentional community - challenges us to come together at the place of our poverty, believing that there we can reveal our richness.

by Henri Nouwen

The Infinite Value of Life

Some people live long lives, some die very young. Is a long life better than a short life? What truly counts is not the length of our lives but their quality. Jesus was in his early thirties when he was killed. Thérése de Lisieux was in her twenties when she died. Anne Frank was a teenager when she lost her life. But their short lives continue to bear fruit long after their deaths.
A long life is a blessing when it is well lived and leads to gratitude, wisdom, and sanctity. But some people can live truly full lives even when their years are few. As we see so many young people die of cancer and AIDS let us do everything possible to show our friends that, though their lives may be short, they are of infinite value.

by Henri M Nouwen

God's Work of Art

One of the great works of art in the Western world is Michelangelo's Pietà, a marble statue of an anguished Mary holding the crucified Christ. Some years ago a fanatic nationalist rushed upon the masterpiece and began smashing it with a sledgehammer. Although the damage was significant, Vatican artists were able to restore the statue to near-perfect condition.
You were created to be a masterpiece of God. Paul writes, "For we are God's poiema" - a word that can mean God's "workmanship," or even God's "work of art." God made you to know oneness with Him and with other human beings. God made you to be co-regent with Him - to "fill the earth and subdue it," to "have dominion" over creation under His reign and with His help. It is the goodness of God's work in creating us that makes our fallenness so tragic. This is why my disappointment in myself runs so deep.
But God is determined to overcome the defacing of His image in us. His plan is not simply to repair most of our brokenness. He wants to make us new creatures. So the story of the human race is not just one of universal disappointment, but one of inextinguishable hope.

- John Ortberg in "The Life You've Always Wanted "

Lovingly Engraved

Novelist Reynolds Price said there is one sentence all humankind craves to hear: "The Maker of all things loves and wants me." That is the sentence Jesus proclaimed, loud as sweet thunder. The Maker of all things is the Maker of all human beings, an odd species that He, unfathomably, deemed worthy of individual attention and love. He demonstrated that love in person, on the gnarly hills of Palestine, and ultimately on the cross.
What the prophets spoke about, Jesus lived. "I have engraved you on the palms of My hands," God said in Isaiah's day. When He visited earth in the form of a Servant, He showed that the hand of God is not too big for the smallest person in the world. It is a hand engraved with our individual names and engraved also with wounds, the cost to God of loving us so much.

- Philip Yancey in "The Bible Jesus Read"

Not Breaking the Bruised Reeds

Some of us tend to do away with things that are slightly damaged. Instead of repairing them we say: "Well, I don't have time to fix it, I might as well throw it in the garbage can and buy a new one." Often we also treat people this way. We say: "Well, he has a problem with drinking; well, she is quite depressed; well, they have mismanaged their business... we'd better not take the risk of working with them." When we dismiss people out of hand because of their apparent woundedness, we stunt their lives by ignoring their gifts, which are often buried in their wounds.
We all are bruised reeds, whether our bruises are visible or not. The compassionate life is the life in which we believe that strength is hidden in weakness and that true community is a fellowship of the weak.

by Henri Nouwen

The Virtue of Flexibility

Trees look strong compared with the wild reeds in the field. But when the storm comes the trees are uprooted, whereas the wild reeds, while moved back and forth by the wind, remain rooted and are standing up again when the storm has calmed down.
Flexibility is a great virtue. When we cling to our own positions and are not willing to let our hearts be moved back and forth a little by the ideas or actions of others, we may easily be broken. Being like wild reeds does not mean being wishy-washy. It means moving a little with the winds of the time while remaining solidly anchored in the ground. A humorless, intense, opinionated rigidity about current issues might cause these issues to break our spirits and make us bitter people. Let's be flexible while being deeply rooted.

by Henri Nouwen

On The Journey Towards Responsibility

Responsibility is one of those words whose meaning changes over time. When we're children, responsibility is an achievement to be celebrated. As adults, responsibility might not look so appealing. It smacks of burden, obligation, being tied down. It seems obvious to consider that responsibility is about response - the ability to respond - but what might not seem so obvious is that responsibility is an attitude of the heart. What does it mean to have a responsive heart? It means being open to our own emotions and needs, receiving the pain and joy of others, and giving something of ourselves in return.
As a therapist, I have seen that many people struggle deeply with responsibility (response-ability). The thought of truly responding to our own deepest longings and the needs of others is frightening and overwhelming. One person I work with feels that if others need anything from her she will be consumed, wiped out by the other's request for her to respond. For that reason, everything that happens to her must be someone else's responsibility. And of course, she cannot allow herself to have any needs either, as this might wipe out the other who has to respond to her.
When we fear responsibility, we become isolated, afraid to really connect to the other who needs us, or the parts of ourselves that are weak or vulnerable. It's true that responsibility carries risk - risk that we will be unappreciated, or left heart-broken. But at the same time, when we are responsible we are alive; we are responding, not just passively letting life happen to us. The God who created us in the divine image might be thought of as "the one who responds." To take responsibility is to grow up in the Spirit and claim the life that we have been given. It's worth the risk.

by Lisa M. Cataldo

Hurry Sickness

Meyer Friedman defines hurry sickness as "above all, a continuous struggle and unremitting attempt to accomplish or achieve more and more things or participate in more and more events in less and less time, frequently in the face of opposition, real or imagined, from other persons."
Though our age intensifies "hurry sickness," it's not a new problem; people in ministry have been subject to it at least since the days of Jesus. During one hectic season of ministry, Mark notes of the disciples, "For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat."
Far too many [Christians] think of this as a life verse, as if God will reward the hectic one day with, "What a life you had! Many were coming and going, and you had no leisure even to eat. Well done!"
Not quite. Jesus was aware of this problem, and He constantly withdrew from crowds and activities. He taught the same to His followers. In one instance, when they returned from a busy time of ministry, filled with adrenaline, He told them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while."
If you want to follow someone, you can't go faster than the one who is leading; following Jesus cannot be done at a sprint. Jesus was often busy but He was never hurried. Being busy is an outer condition; being hurried is a sickness of the soul. Jesus never went about the busyness of His ministry in a way that severed the life-giving connection between Himself and His Father.
He never did it in a way that interfered with His ability to give love when that was what was called for. He observed a regular rhythm of withdrawal from activity, for solitude and prayer. He ruthlessly eliminated hurry from his life.

- John Ortberg

An Honest Being-With

Being with a friend in great pain is not easy. It makes us uncomfortable. We do not know what to do or what to say, and we worry about how to respond to what we hear. Our temptation is to say things that come more out of our own fear than out of our care for the person in pain. Sometimes we say things like "Well, you're doing a lot better than yesterday," or "You will soon be your old self again," or "I'm sure you will get over this." But often we know that what we're saying is not true, and our friends know it too.
We do not have to play games with each other. We can simply say: "I am your friend, I am happy to be with you." We can say that in words or with touch or with loving silence. Sometimes it is good to say: "You don't have to talk. Just close your eyes. I am here with you, thinking of you, praying for you, loving you."

by Henri Nouwen

The Grace Of Humour

As Christians, we are people of the resurrection, therefore we are people who love to laugh, who believe that laughter is a wonderfully life-giving, defiant act full of the grace of God. Easter is that which enables us to keep going, even in our moral failures, even when being a servant of the Word is difficult. Those who have kept at the Christian ministry longer than I will confirm the essential virtue of humour... The ability to laugh at life's incongruities, to take God seriously but not ourselves, to embrace the strangeness of [other] people instead of strangling them to death with our bare hands - this is great grace... Humour is the grace to put our problems in perspective,... to be reminded that Jesus really did need to save us, seeing as we have so little means to save ourselves. Humour is just a glimpse, on a human scale, of the way God looks upon us from God's unfathomable grace. By the resurrection, the gospel is enabled to be comedy and not tragedy.

- U. M. Bishop William Willimon

Bringing the Spirit Through Leaving

It is often in our absence that the Spirit of God manifests itself. When Jesus left his disciples he said: "It is for your own good that I am going, because unless I go, the Paraclete [the Spirit] will not come to you. However, when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth" (John 16: 7;13). It was only in Jesus' absence that his friends discovered the full meaning of his presence. It was only in his absence that they completely understood his words and experienced full communion with him; and it was only in his absence that they could gather in a community of faith, hope, and love.
When we claim for ourselves that we come to our friends in the Name of Jesus - that through us Jesus becomes present to them - we can trust that our leaving will also bring them the Spirit of Jesus. Thus, not only our presence but also our absence becomes a gift to others.

by Henri Nouwen

Absence That Creates Presence

It is good to visit people who are sick, dying, shut in, handicapped, or lonely. But it is also important not to feel guilty when our visits have to be short or can only happen occasionally. Often we are so apologetic about our limitations that our apologies prevent us from really being with the other when we are there. A short time fully present to a sick person is much better than a long time with many explanations of why we are too busy to come more often.
If we are able to be fully present to our friends when we are with them, our absence too will bear many fruits. Our friends will say: "He visited me" or "She visited me," and discover in our absence the lasting grace of our presence.

by Henri Nouwen

The Spirit of Jesus Listening in Us

Listening in the spiritual life is much more than a psychological strategy to help others discover themselves. In the spiritual life the listener is not the ego, which would like to speak but is trained to restrain itself, but the Spirit of God within us. When we are baptised in the Spirit - that is, when we have received the Spirit of Jesus as the breath of God breathing within us - that Spirit creates in us a sacred space where the other can be received and listened to. The Spirit of Jesus prays in us and listens in us to all who come to us with their sufferings and pains.
When we dare to fully trust in the power of God's Spirit listening in us, we will see true healing occur.

by Henri Nouwen

Listening as Spiritual Hospitality

To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept.
Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that, those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their own true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.

by Henri Nouwen

Our Unique Call

So many terrible things happen every day that we start wondering whether the few things we do ourselves make any sense. When people are starving only a few thousand miles away, when wars are raging close to our borders, when countless people in our own cities have no homes to live in, our own activities look futile. Such considerations, however, can paralyse us and depress us.
Here the word call becomes important. We are not called to save the world, solve all problems, and help all people. But we each have our own unique call, in our families, in our work, in our world. We have to keep asking God to help us see clearly what our call is and to give us the strength to live out that call with trust. Then we will discover that our faithfulness to a small task is the most healing response to the illnesses of our time.

by Henri Nouwen

On The Journey Towards Forgiveness

I was going through a difficult time, dealing with one of life's traumas, when a close family member abandoned me. Or so I thought. That was seven years ago, maybe eight, and I have held a grudge ever since. The trauma has passed, but my anger hasn't.
I still allow my anger to discolour all of my feelings about him. Many days I actually enjoy the smug, angry feelings, which make me feel powerful. How? Please don't ask, because I am embarrassed about freely harbouring such bitterness. I don't know why I choose to cling to a toxic resentment that often keeps my shoulders and stomach oh so tense when I'm around him.
I have another choice - a choice to forgive. For my own sake, I should. I know that my act of forgiving would take me by the hand to a more tranquil place. But in this broken relationship, I prefer suffering from self-inflicted feelings to taking the simple step of saying "I forgive you."
The appropriate cliché would be to tell you that, at last, I've decided to forgive him. But I haven't. I still suffer in that unpleasant place between problem and resolution. I know I will stay there until I choose to leave. This is no longer about what the other person did to me. It's about what I must learn as I cling to bitterness. Only my heart can show me the way, even as my head rattles with resentful thoughts. The question, then, is this: Do I have the humility to listen to my heart, which so desperately seeks peace?

by Ed Wojcicki

Freedom from Judging, Freedom for Mercy

We spend an enormous amount of energy making up our minds about other people. Not a day goes by without somebody doing or saying something that evokes in us the need to form an opinion about him or her. We hear a lot, see a lot, and know a lot. The feeling that we have to sort it all out in our minds and make judgments about it can be quite oppressive.
The desert fathers said that judging others is a heavy burden, while being judged by others is a light one. Once we can let go of our need to judge others, we will experience an immense inner freedom. Once we are free from judging, we will be also free for mercy. Let's remember Jesus' words: "Do not judge, and you will not be judged" (Matthew 7:1).

by Henri Nouwen

Towards a Nonjudgmental Life

One of the hardest spiritual tasks is to live without prejudices. Sometimes we aren't even aware how deeply rooted our prejudices are. We may think that we relate to people who are different from us in colour, religion, sexual orientation, or lifestyle as equals, but in concrete circumstances our spontaneous thoughts, uncensored words, and knee-jerk reactions often reveal that our prejudices are still there.
Strangers, people different than we are, stir up fear, discomfort, suspicion, and hostility. They make us lose our sense of security just by being "other." Only when we fully claim that God loves us in an unconditional way and look at "those other persons" as equally loved can we begin to discover that the great variety in being human is an expression of the immense richness of God's heart. Then the need to prejudge people can gradually disappear.

by Henri Nouwen

The Great Gift of Parenthood

Children are their parents' guests. They come into the space that has been created for them, stay for a while - fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five years - and leave again to create their own space. Although parents speak about "our son" and "our daughter," their children are not their property. In many ways children are strangers. Parents have to come to know them, discover their strengths and their weaknesses, and guide them to maturity, allowing them to make their own decisions.
The greatest gift parents can give their children is their love for each other. Through that love they create an anxiety-free place for their children to grow, encouraging them to develop confidence in themselves and find the freedom to choose their own ways in life.

by Henri Nouwen

True Hospitality

Every good relationship between two or more people, whether it is friendship, marriage, or community, creates space where strangers can enter and become friends. Good relationships are hospitable. When we enter into a home and feel warmly welcomed, we will soon realise that the love among those who live in that home is what makes that welcome possible.
When there is conflict in the home, the guest is soon forced to choose sides. "Are you for him or for her?" "Do you agree with them or with us?" "Do you like him more than you do me?" These questions prevent true hospitality - that is, an opportunity for the stranger to feel safe and discover his or her own gifts. Hospitality is more than an expression of love for the guest. It is also and foremost an expression of love between the hosts.

by Henri Nouwen

So Great A Passion

My Lord Jesus Christ, two graces I beg of You before I die:
The first is that in my lifetime I may feel, in my soul and in my body, as far as possible, that sorrow which You, sweet Jesus, endured in the hour of Your most bitter passion.
The second is that I may feel in my heart, as far as possible, that abundance of love with which You, Son of God, were inflamed, so as willingly to endure so great a passion for us sinners.

- Francis of Assisi in "A Book of Personal Prayer"

Creating a Home Together

Many human relationships are like the interlocking fingers of two hands. Our loneliness makes us cling to each other, and this mutual clinging makes us suffer immensely because it does not take our loneliness away. But the harder we try, the more desperate we become. Many of these "interlocking" relationships fall apart because they become suffocating and oppressive. Human relationships are meant to be like two hands folded together. They can move away from each other while still touching with the fingertips. They can create space between themselves, a little tent, a home, a safe place to be.
True relationships among people point to God. They are like prayers in the world. Sometimes the hands that pray are fully touching, sometimes there is distance between them. They always move to and from each other, but they never lose touch. They keep praying to the One who brought them together.

by Henri Nouwen

Reflecting God's Perfect Love

God's love for us is everlasting. That means that God's love for us existed before we were born and will exist after we have died. It is an eternal love in which we are embraced. Living a spiritual life calls us to claim that eternal love for ourselves so that we can live our temporal loves - for parents, brothers, sisters, teachers, friends, spouses, and all people who become part of our lives - as reflections or refractions of God's eternal love. No fathers or mothers can love their children perfectly. No husbands or wives can love each other with unlimited love. There is no human love that is not broken somewhere.
When our broken love is the only love we can have, we are easily thrown into despair, but when we can live our broken love as a partial reflection of God's perfect, unconditional love, we can forgive one another our limitations and enjoy together the love we have to offer.

by Henri Nouwen

Known By God

"I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My Hands..." (Isaiah 49:15b-16a)

What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it - the fact that He knows me. I am graven on the palms of His hands; I am never out of His mind. All my knowledge of Him depends on His sustained initiative in knowing me. I know Him because He first knew me and continues to know me. - J. I. Packer in "Knowing God"

- Jim Packer

God's faithfulness and Ours

When God makes a covenant with us, God says: "I will love you with an everlasting love. I will be faithful to you, even when you run away from me, reject me, or betray me." In our society we don't speak much about covenants; we speak about contracts. When we make a contract with a person, we say: "I will fulfill my part as long as you fulfill yours. When you don't live up to your promises, I no longer have to live up to mine." Contracts are often broken because the partners are unwilling or unable to be faithful to their terms.
But God didn't make a contract with us; God made a covenant with us, and God wants our relationships with one another to reflect that covenant. That's why marriage, friendship, life in community are all ways to give visibility to God's faithfulness in our lives together.

by Henri Nouwen

God's Covenant

God made a covenant with us. The word covenant means "coming together." God wants to come together with us. In many of the stories in the Hebrew Bible, we see that God appears as a God who defends us against our enemies, protects us against dangers, and guides us to freedom. God is God-for-us. When Jesus comes a new dimension of the covenant is revealed. In Jesus, God is born, grows to maturity, lives, suffers, and dies as we do. God is God-with-us. Finally, when Jesus leaves he promises the Holy Spirit. In the Holy Spirit, God reveals the full depth of the covenant. God wants to be as close to us as our breath. God wants to breathe in us, so that all we say, think and do is completely inspired by God. God is God-within-us. Thus God's covenant reveals to us to how much God loves us.

by Henri Nouwen

On The Journey Towards Forgiveness

When the adrenaline of a birth with a "good outcome" wore off, I found myself at home with a three-month-old baby and a two-year-old. At this point the baby was up every hour. I was exhausted, physically and emotionally. There was no space for sleep, let alone solitude. This was when I discovered that I have an anger button I had not experienced before.
There were times when I was so angry I went into the garage and kicked the garbage cans. Then I would come back into the house, feeling some relief but still stewing. As for my children, after a little nap, they were ready to re-enter the relationship and begin anew. They accepted my apology and forgave me with eagerness and a willingness to trust me again. The baby would cozy up for a little suckle, and if I tried to dwell in my anger towards them, the toddler would look at me as if I was peculiar and egg me on to come and play with her.
Forgiveness and celebration are the staples in the diet of my children's emotional lives. It is by God's invitation that I eat at their table and share in community with them to learn about God's forgiveness and the immense joy God takes in God's children.

written by Sheilagh Ashworth

Hope In The Midst Of Tragedy

I cannot imagine what it would be like to endure a tragedy without the hope that God offers. Without Jesus Christ, there is no hope...
Of course, we Christians grieve when those we love are taken from us, but we do not grieve as those who have no hope. We do not believe that people cease to exist when they die; the Bible tell us that we will again see all those loved ones who put their faith in Christ. As Paul writes, "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who die, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have died in Him" (1 Thessalonians. 4:13-14).
Hope is available to us, even in the midst of tragedy. And not only hope for eternal life, but hope of being reunited with those we love. Hope is available now, even in tragedy, because God has promised to walk with us through any disaster that might over take us.

- Luis Palau in "Where Is God When Bad Things Happen?"

Career Verses Calling

American society does not talk much about calling anymore. It is more likely to think in terms of career. Yet, for many people a career becomes the altar on which they sacrifice their lives. Benjamin Hunnicutt is a historian who specializes in the history of work at the University of Iowa. He notes that work has become our new religion, where we worship and give our time. As people's commitment to family, community, and faith are shrinking, they begin to look to their careers to provide them with meaning, connectedness identity, and esteem.
A calling, which is something I do FOR God, is replaced by a CAREER, which threatens to BECOME my god. A career is something I choose for myself; a calling is something I receive. A career is something I do for myself; a calling something I do for God. A career promises status, money, or power; a calling generally promises difficulty and even some suffering - and the opportunity to be used by God.

- John Ortberg in "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat"

Letting Go of Our Fear of God

We are afraid of emptiness. Spinoza speaks about our "horror vacui," our horrendous fear of vacancy. We like to occupy-fill up-every empty time and space. We want to be occupied. And if we are not occupied we easily become preoccupied; that is, we fill the empty spaces before we have even reached them. We fill them with our worries, saying, "But what if ..."
It is very hard to allow emptiness to exist in our lives. Emptiness requires a willingness not to be in control, a willingness to let something new and unexpected happen. It requires trust, surrender, and openness to guidance. God wants to dwell in our emptiness. But as long as we are afraid of God and God's actions in our lives, it is unlikely that we will offer our emptiness to God. Let's pray that we can let go of our fear of God and embrace God as the source of all love.

by Henri Nouwen

Creating Space for God

Discipline is the other side of discipleship. Discipleship without discipline is like waiting to run in the marathon without ever practicing. Discipline without discipleship is like always practicing for the marathon but never participating. It is important, however, to realize that discipline in the spiritual life is not the same as discipline in sports. Discipline in sports is the concentrated effort to master the body so that it can obey the mind better. Discipline in the spiritual life is the concentrated effort to create the space and time where God can become our master and where we can respond freely to God's guidance.
Thus, discipline is the creation of boundaries that keep time and space open for God. Solitude requires discipline, worship requires discipline, caring for others requires discipline. They all ask us to set apart a time and a place where God's gracious presence can be acknowledged and responded to.

by Henri Nouwen

Facing Our Mortality

We all have dreams about the perfect life: a life without pain, sadness, conflict, or war. The spiritual challenge is to experience glimpses of this perfect life right in the middle of our many struggles. By embracing the reality of our mortal life, we can get in touch with the eternal life that has been sown there. The apostle Paul expresses this powerfully when he writes: "We are subjected to every kind of hardship, but never distressed; we see no way out but we never despair; we are pursued but never cut off; knocked down, but still have some life in us; always we carry with us in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus, too, may be visible in our ... mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:8-12).
Only by facing our mortality can we come in touch with the life that transcends death. Our imperfections open for us the vision of the perfect life that God in and through Jesus has promised us.

by Henri Nouwen

Knowing God

The Bible tells us very clearly that to "know" God is not an affair of the mind only, but an act in which our whole being - heart, mind, and will - is vitally engaged; so that sheer intellectual speculation would enable us to form certain ideas about God but never to know Him. To be grasped, God's will must be met with a readiness to obey.

- Suzanne de Diétrich in "Discovering the Bible"

Hidden Greatness

There is much emphasis on notoriety and fame in our society. Our newspapers and television keep giving us the message: What counts is to be known, praised, and admired, whether you are a writer, an actor, a musician, or a politician.
Still, real greatness is often hidden, humble, simple, and unobtrusive. It is not easy to trust ourselves and our actions without public affirmation. We must have strong self-confidence combined with deep humility. Some of the greatest works of art and the most important works of peace were created by people who had no need for the limelight. They knew that what they were doing was their call, and they did it with great patience, perseverance, and love.

by Henri Nouwen

Bringing Our Secrets into the Light

We all have our secrets: thoughts, memories, feelings that we keep to ourselves. Often we think, "If people knew what I feel or think, they would not love me." These carefully kept secrets can do us much harm. They can make us feel guilty or ashamed and may lead us to self-rejection, depression, and even suicidal thoughts and actions.
One of the most important things we can do with our secrets is to share them in a safe place, with people we trust. When we have a good way to bring our secrets into the light and can look at them with others, we will quickly discover that we are not alone with our secrets and that our trusting friends will love us more deeply and more intimately than before. Bringing our secrets into the light creates community and inner healing. As a result of sharing secrets, not only will others love us better but we will love ourselves more fully.

by Henri Nouwen

On The Journey Towards Compassion

A good friend of mine said, "Compassion means to do things with passion." It is a definition that has stayed with me to this day.
In my third year at L'Arche Daybreak, a community that welcomes people with disabilities and assistants who desire to share life with them, I learned that a new man was being welcomed to the community and that I would be spending my days with him. Michael was then in the hospital, and I was asked to visit with him. On the way to the hospital, I was nervous; when the elevator arrived at his floor, my nervousness turned to anxiety. I went into his room and saw this very frail young man, visibly uncomfortable. I just stood beside him, and as I grew still I was aware of my compassion for Michael.
When the relationship began all was well; however, the excitement I felt getting to know him waned, and supporting him each day started to take its toll. Michael's frailty made me aware of my own weaknesses. I could feel my heart closing up, which saddened me deeply.
Michael and I shared our days for four years, and during this time a radical shift took place in our relationship. It became evident that Michael was taking on the role of the compassionate one towards me. I have vivid memories of our looking into each other's eyes and with his smile Michael telling me: "You are OK; I still love you." I sensed that he knew I was struggling and was able to accept me with a compassionate heart.
The time came for our lives to take different paths, but what I learned through my relationship with Michael will stay with me. As we both created room for each other, we both were able to give to each other the definition of compassion.

by Lorenzo Sforza-Cesarini

What Is Most Personal Is Most Universal

We like to make a distinction between our private and public lives and say, "Whatever I do in my private life is nobody else's business." But anyone trying to live a spiritual life will soon discover that the most personal is the most universal, the most hidden is the most public, and the most solitary is the most communal. What we live in the most intimate places of our beings is not just for us but for all people. That is why our inner lives are lives for others. That is why our solitude is a gift to our community, and that is why our most secret thoughts affect our common life.
Jesus says, "No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house" (Matthew 5:14-15). The most inner light is a light for the world. Let's not have "double lives"; let us allow what we live in private to be known in public.

by Henri Nouwen

The Balance Between Closeness and Distance

Intimacy between people requires closeness as well as distance. It is like dancing. Sometimes we are very close, touching each other or holding each other; sometimes we move away from each other and let the space between us become an area where we can freely move.
To keep the right balance between closeness and distance requires hard work, especially since the needs of the partners may be quite different at a given moment. One might desire closeness while the other wants distance. One might want to be held while the other looks for independence. A perfect balance seldom occurs, but the honest and open search for that balance can give birth to a beautiful dance, worthy to behold.

by Henri Nouwen