henri nouwen
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Holding On To Your Own Pleasurable Imaginings
“Maybe we wonder if God can take all that goes on in our mind and heart. Maybe we simply want to hold on to our own pleasurable imaginings, afraid that in showing them to our Lord, we may have to give them up. Thus, we are constantly tempted to fall back… out of fear or…
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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…
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Where is your tree rooted? (Security)
What is the basis of our security? When we start thinking about that question, we may give many answers: success, money, friends, property, popularity, family, connections, insurance, and so on. We may not always think that any of these forms the basis of our security, but our actions or feelings may tell us otherwise. When…
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God Didn’t Call Us to Be Successful, He Called Us to Be Faithful
A few years ago, studying the book of Isaiah, I was deeply impacted by the fact that God called Isaiah, not to be successful, but to be faithful. What? Yup. In fact, God warned him that his ministry would have no converts. One could ask, “Why bother?” Our human voices ask ourselves, “What’s the point?”…
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Overcoming Our Mood Swings
Such a great read today from Henri Nouwen… Are we condemned to be passive victims of our moods? Must we simply say: “I feel great today” or “I feel awful today,” and require others to live with our moods? Although it is very hard to control our moods, we can gradually overcome them by living…
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Turn Your Worries Into Prayers
Turning your worries into prayers is a simple thing and yet one we constantly fail at. But, when we do get into the habit, the peace of God that comes is truly incredible. As you can tell, I’ve been meditating of late on the reflections of Henri Nouwen who wonderfully wrote… From Unceasing Thinking to…
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Those Who Mean The Most To Us
“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us…
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What Is Perfect Love?
If we are more self-conscious than ever, with the ones we “love”, that is not love… but fear. Our ‘love’ is unmasked as a battle in manipulation and power – one person using another to make them feel good, even in a pecking order, or to simply chase away loneliness. True love is… safe,… forgiving……
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A Person Who Means The Most To Us, Grieves With Us
Henri Nouwen wrote, “When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be…