Be surprised by joy, be surprised by the little flower that shows its beauty in the midst of a barren desert, and be surprised by the immense healing power that keeps bursting forth like springs of fresh water from the depth of our pain.
HENRI NOUWENMuch violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared.
More Henri Nouwen Quotes
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When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become.
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Those who keep speaking about the sun while walking under a cloudy sky are messengers of hope, the true saints of our day.
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For Jesus, there are no countries to be conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, no people to be dominated. There are only children, women and men to be loved.
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Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved.
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You don’t think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking.
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You have to listen to the one who calls you beloved. That has to be affirmed over and over again. That is prayer – listening to the voice of the one who calls you “the beloved.”
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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.
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If I were to let my life be taken over by what is urgent, I might very well never get around to what is essential.
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The greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but self-rejection.
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We need to be angels for each other, to give each other strength and consolation. Because only when we fully realize that the cup of life is not only a cup of sorrow but also a cup of joy will we be able to drink it.
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My whole life I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I discovered that my interruptions were my work.
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Keep a space where God can let something totally new take place.
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I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found.
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Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. We do not take the spiritual life seriously if we do not set aside some time to be with God and listen to him.
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The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing that is a friend who cares.
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I feel strongly that the God we meet in solitude is always the God who calls us to community.
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Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.
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The fruits of your labors may be reaped two generations from now. Trust, even when you don’t see the results.
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Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self.
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Let’s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.
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Our humanity comes to its fullest bloom in giving. We become beautiful people when we give whatever we can give: a smile, a handshake, a kiss, an embrace, a word of love, a present, a part of our life…all of our life.
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Your life is not going to be easy, and it should not be easy. It ought to be hard. It ought to be radical; it ought to be restless; it ought to lead you to places you’d rather not go.
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The great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.
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Dare to love and to be a real friend. The love you give and receive is a reality that will lead you closer and closer to God as well as those whom God has given you to love.
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Once we deeply trust that we ourselves are precious in God’s eyes, we are able to recognize the preciousness of others and their unique places in God’s heart.
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Dear God, I am so afraid to open my clenched fists! Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to? Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands? Please help me to gradually open my hands and to discover that I am not what I own, but what you want to give me.
HENRI NOUWEN