Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. Henri Nouwen More Quotes by Henri Nouwen More Quotes From Henri Nouwen If you believe you are the beloved of God, you need to spend time listening to his voice - period! You can't say, "Yes God calls me the beloved, but I have to go out to do something now." Henri Nouwen voicelisteningbelieve The greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity or power, but self-rejection. Henri Nouwen meaningful-liferejectionself Ministers are tempted to join the ranks of those who consider it their primary task to keep other people busy … But our task is the opposite of distraction … how to keep them from being so busy that they can no longer hear the voice of God who speaks in silence. Henri Nouwen voiceoppositespeople Prayer requires that we stand in God's presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and to others that without God we can do nothing. As disciples, we find not some but all of our strength, hope, courage, and confidence in God. Therefore, prayer must be our first concern. Henri Nouwen nakedprayerhands 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. Henri Nouwen true-friendgrieffriendship The more you are called to speak for God's love, the more you will need to deepen the knowledge of that love in your own heart. The farther the outward journey takes you, the deeper the inward journey must be. Only when your roots are deep can your fruits be abundant. Henri Nouwen journeyrootsheart The farther the outward journey takes you, the deeper the inward journey must be. Henri Nouwen inwarddeeperjourney From the moment we claim the truth of being the beloved, we are faced with the call to become who we are. Henri Nouwen who-we-arebelovedmoments It's an incredible mystery of God's love that the more you know how deeply you are loved, the more you will see how deeply your sisters and your brothers in the human family are loved. Henri Nouwen incrediblesmysterybrother As long as we relate to the trees, the rivers, the mountains, the fields and the oceans as properties which we can manipulate according to our real or fabricated needs, nature remains opaque, and does not reveal to us its true being. Henri Nouwen oceannaturereal To be a Christian who is willing to travel with Christ on his downward road requires being willing to detach oneself constantly from any need to be relevant, and to trust ever more deeply the Word of God. Henri Nouwen religiouschristiangod We just have to recognize life for what it is: a gift to be grateful for, not a property to cling to, hoard, or defend. Henri Nouwen propertygratefullife-is The Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self. God loves us, not because of what we do or accomplish, but because God has created and redeemed us in love. Henri Nouwen leaderselfchristian To forgive another from the heart is an act of liberation. We set that person free from the negative bonds that exist between us. As long as we do not forgive we pull them with us, or worse, as a heavy load. The great temptation is to cling in anger to our enemies & then define ourselves as being offended & wounded by them. Forgiveness, therefore, liberates not only the other but also ourselves. It is the way to the freedom of the children of God. Henri Nouwen heartlongchildren The dance of life finds its beginnings in grief......Here a completely new way of living is revealed. It is the way in which pain can be embraced, not out of a desire to suffer, but in the knowledge that something new will be born in the pain. Henri Nouwen paingriefgrieving When you have loved deeply, that love can grow even stronger after the death of the person you love. That is the core message of Jesus. Henri Nouwen strongermessagesjesus When we become aware that we do not have to escape our pains, but that we can mobilize them into a common search for life, those very pains are transformed from expressions of despair into signs of hope. Henri Nouwen painexpressioninspirational Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing-sicknes s, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death--can take that love away. Henri Nouwen emotionallovewar Waiting is a period of learning. The longer we wait, the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting. Henri Nouwen periodswaiting Forgiveness changes the way we remember. It converts the curse into a blessing. Forgiveness indeed heals memories . . . Henri Nouwen blessingmemoriesway
