I love Henri Nouwen. He is one of the most profound thinkers of our day and so spiritually in tune with the Spirit of God. His words can turn a moment upside down for me. I can be in despair and after reading some of his words, my entire perspective can change. My goal would be to think like Jesus, but second to that, I would like to think as Henri Nouwen thinks. If you have not read his writings, search him online or buy any one of his books and you will want more and more. Here is one excerpt from his thoughts on waiting. I struggle so much with this and it seems in some areas of my life I have been waiting for a long time...I love how he shifts my manner of thought:
Waiting is patient
But there is none of this passivity in Scripture. Those who are waiting are waiting very actively. They know that what they are waiting for is growing from the ground on which they are standing. That’s the secret. The secret of waiting is the faith that the seed has been planted, that something has begun. Active waiting means to be present fully to the moment, in the conviction that something is happening. A waiting person is a patient person. The word “patience” means the willingness to stay where we are and life the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us. Impatient people are always expecting the real thing to happen somewhere else and therefore want to go elsewhere. The moment is empty. But patient people dare to stay where they are. Patient living means to live actively in the present and wait there.
2 comments:
whoo d, good words and very relevant for us right now. when i saw the title of this post, i said I bet this has something to do with Henri:) You can spot that kind of brilliant a mile away. Thanks for sharing.
Erin...google Henri Nouwen on waiting and you will find an outline to his talk on active waiting. You'll love it if you need to hear this right now...
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