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 NOUWENIt 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 NOUWENHope means to keep living amid desperation and to keep humming in the darkness.
HENRI NOUWENOur greatest fulfillment lies in giving ourselves to others.
HENRI NOUWENPay attention to the people God puts in your path if you want to discern what God is up to in your life.
HENRI NOUWENThe 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.
HENRI NOUWENIf you feel loved, you can do a thousand things. If you feel rejected, everything becomes a problem.
HENRI NOUWENThe church is not an institution forcing us to follow rules but a community inviting us to still our hunger and thirst at its table.
HENRI NOUWENI am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found.
HENRI NOUWENYou don’t think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking.
HENRI NOUWENBe 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 NOUWENGod, help me to see others not as enemies or as ungodly but rather as thirsty people. And give me the courage and compassion to offer your Living Water, which alone quenches deep thirst.
HENRI NOUWENWaiting time is not wasting time. Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life.
HENRI NOUWENPrayer is not what is done by us, but rather what is done by the Holy Spirit in us.
HENRI NOUWENThe main question is not, how can we hide our wounds but how can we put our woundedness in service to others.
HENRI NOUWENSpiritual maturity is not knowing what to do with your whole life, but just knowing what to do next.
HENRI NOUWENCompassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.
HENRI NOUWEN