Good morning…
Along with sharing Henri Nouwen’s words of wisdom, the Henri Nouwen Society has been counting down to this day: GivingTuesday. In researching the concept, I learn from Wikipedia that “GivingTuesday, often stylized as #GivingTuesday for the purposes of hashtag activism, is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It is touted as a ‘global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world’.”
“Gratitude goes beyond the ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ and claims that all of life is pure gift,” says the Nouwen quote highlighted above yesterday’s message. I am grateful that the wise words of Henri Nouwen are being sown like seeds across the soil of our world, a life-giving legacy, a pure gift freely given. As you know, I often share with our written word community the synchronicity of God’s Spirit as it echoes through Henri.
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DAILY MEDITATION | NOVEMBER 29, 2021 – Our Lives Multiply by Giving Them Away by Henri Nouwen
The fruitfulness of our little life, once we recognize it and live it as the life of the Beloved, is beyond anything we can imagine. One of the greatest acts of faith is to believe that the few years we live on this earth are like a little seed planted in very rich soil. For this seed to bear fruit, it must die. We often see or feel only the dying, but the harvest will be abundant even when we ourselves are the harvesters.
How different would our life be were we truly able to trust that it multiplied in being given away! How different would our life be if we could believe that every little act of faithfulness, every gesture of love, every word of forgiveness, every little bit of joy and peace will multiply and multiply as long as there are people to receive it . . . and that—even then—there will be leftovers!
“Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. The number of the men who [ate] was five thousand.” – MARK 6:41, 44 (NIV)
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After reading Nouwen’s message, for the very first time the Spirit spurred me to touch the “Donate Today” button. I felt inspired to beginning an annual discipline of gratefully giving to this online ministry which quietly nourishes the soil our SueToYou ministry. Right before our eyes, God’s process of organic growth is bearing fruit in our everyday lives, just as our Creator planned before we were born.
Writing to you in the early morning hours, now six days each week, is definitely part of God’s work for me to do in the world. It is a part of God’s poetry being written through our ordinary lives. Remember the cool Scripture verse uncovered this Sunday as I intentionally invested in the art of Sabbath-keeping? We have become God’s poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us, for we are joined in Jesus (Ephesians 2:10a, TPT).
Crafting our morning messages outside of my work hours as Women’s Ministry Director at Northside Church, the diligent hours I invest writing our blog posts and the ongoing costs of our SueToYou website are supported solely by generous Gratitude Gifts freely given by you, our written word community. If and when the Holy Spirit piques your interest, might you prayerfully consider giving in gratitude to support God’s ministry expanding in our midst? To freely give, touch on the link to our Gratitude Gift.
What joy! God’s mysterious multiplication process continues to quietly nurture a rich harvest among us. May what was said of the first Jesus-followers become true in our daily lives: They were continually filled with praises to God, enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord kept adding to their number daily those who were coming to life (Acts 2:47, TPT).
…Sue…
