Wednesday, April 17, 2013

9 Month Reflection: Wisdom of Henri Nouwen



From Henri Nouwen`s book, ¡Gracias! A Latin American Journal:

''More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them.  
It is a privilege to have the time and the freedom to practice this simple ministry of presence…
 It is difficult not to have plans...not to feel that you are working directly for social change. 
But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn't be to know people by name, to eat and to drink with them, to listen to their stories, and to tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them.''













 "If anything has affected me deeply since I have been living in [Mount Sinai], it has been the children. 




I have recalled that since my eighteenth year I have not been around children... Yet here I am surrounded by boys and girls running up to me, giving me kisses, climbing up to my shoulders, throwing balls at me, and constanly asking for some sign of interest in their lives
The children always challenge me to live in the present.  
 They want me to be with them here and now, and they find it hard to understand that I might have other things to do or think about... I marvel at their ability to be fully present to me. 

 








Their uninhibited expression of affection and their willingness to receive it pull me directly into the moment and invite me to celebrate life where it is found."


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