Good morning…
Back to back devotional messages from Henri Nouwen keep me company this week. Both writings come from Nouwen’s deeply personal book The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom.
During my dad’s 89th birthday week, it’s hard to live far away from my aging parents in Ohio. All of our four grown kids have moved out of our home and onto their own thriving lives. Currently, my husband Steve is engaged in his new role as adult trip leader for Lovett Expeditions; he is in Egypt leading a group of sixteen down the Nile and up to the top of Mount Sinai. This week, I am left home alone, feeling the ache of absence.
First I digest Nouwen’s thoughts entitled Absence Is Not Destructive.
- “When the place where God dwells in you is intimately connected with the place where God dwells in the other, the absence of the other person is not destructive. On the contrary, it will challenge you to enter more deeply into communion with God, the source of all unity and communion among people.”
Nouwen’s second reading is entitled Going Deeper.
- “There are many doors…. that give you chances to leave the journey. But you have been closing these doors one after the other, making yourself go deeper and deeper into your center. You know that Jesus is waiting for you at the end, just as you know that he is guiding you as you move in that direction. Every time you close another – be it the door of immediate satisfaction, the door of distracting entertainment, the door of busyness, the door of guilt and worry, or the door of self rejection – you commit yourself to go deeper into your heart and thus deeper into the heart of God.”
Here’s the reflection question I ponder now; I invite you to join me.
- “Which “doors” in my life am I being invited to close so that I can go deeper into my own heart and draw closer to the heart of God?”
For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you] (Luke 17:21b, AMP).
Aware of my lonely struggle, a friend adds song lyrics and a prayer to support me on my journey inward and downward into God.
Let my feet echo my words.
Let my words echo my thoughts.
Let my thoughts echo my God.
Lord, you see what is stirring within me. You know the places where I feel anxious, unsettled, and lonely. Help me to close distracting doors, deepening me down into my center. By your Spirit, quiet my heart and draw me back to you. Form in me a peace that reflects your presence. And let that peace become a source of joy, not only for me, but for those around me. Amen. 💕
…Sue…
