It is in solitude that we discover that being is more important than having and that we are worth more than the results of our efforts. In solitude we discover that our life is not a possession to be defended but a gift to be shared.
HENRI NOUWENLearning to weep, learning to keep vigil, learning to wait for the dawn. Perhaps this is what it means to be human.
More Henri Nouwen Quotes
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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.
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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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Every time there are losses, there are choices to be made. You choose to live your losses as passages to anger, blame, hatred, depression and resentment, or you choose to let these losses be passages to something new, something wider, and deeper.
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Life is just a little opportunity for you during a few years to say, “I love you, too.”
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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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Prayer is first of all listening to God. It’s openness. God is always speaking; he’s always doing something.
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One of the tragedies of our life is that we keep forgetting who we are.
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Our life is a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment.
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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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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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The church is not an institution forcing us to follow rules but a community inviting us to still our hunger and thirst at its table.
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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.
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The greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but self-rejection.
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In our own woundedness, we can become sources of life for others.
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Every time I take a step in the direction of generosity, I know I am moving from fear to love.
HENRI NOUWEN