Those who keep speaking about the sun while walking under a cloudy sky are messengers of hope, the true saints of our day.
HENRI NOUWENThose who keep speaking about the sun while walking under a cloudy sky are messengers of hope, the true saints of our day.
HENRI NOUWENPrayer is first of all listening to God. It’s openness. God is always speaking; he’s always doing something.
HENRI NOUWENWhat makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love.
HENRI NOUWENOnce 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.
HENRI NOUWENYour heart is greater than your wounds.
HENRI NOUWENOur life is a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment.
HENRI NOUWENSomewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning, that without listening speaking no longer heals, that without distance closeness cannot cure.
HENRI NOUWENOur 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.
HENRI NOUWENWe cannot make it rain but we can see to it that the rain falls on prepared soil.
HENRI NOUWENThe great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.
HENRI NOUWENWe are called to be fruitful – not successful, not productive, not accomplished. Success comes from strength, stress, and human effort. Fruitfulness comes from vulnerability and the admission of our own weakness.
HENRI NOUWENWaiting time is not wasting time. Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.
HENRI NOUWENThe fruits of your labors may be reaped two generations from now. Trust, even when you don’t see the results.
HENRI NOUWENMuch violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared.
HENRI NOUWENCompassion can never coexist with judgement because judgement creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other.
HENRI NOUWENThe spiritual life is a life beyond moods. It is a life in which we choose joy and do not allow ourselves to become victims of passing feelings of happiness or depression.
HENRI NOUWEN