The main question is not, how can we hide our wounds but how can we put our woundedness in service to others.
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.
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 trust in you, Lord, but keep helping me in my moments of distrust and doubt.
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Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the Beloved.
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Compassion can never coexist with judgement because judgement creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other.
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Your heart is greater than your wounds.
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Much violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared.
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Our life is a time in which sadness and joy kiss each other at every moment.
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Spiritual maturity is not knowing what to do with your whole life, but just knowing what to do next.
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Forgiveness changes the way we remember.
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We 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.
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Our greatest fulfillment lies in giving ourselves to others.
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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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Trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.
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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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Hope means to keep living amid desperation and to keep humming in the darkness.
HENRI NOUWEN