Much violence is based on the illusion that life is a property to be defended and not to be shared. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Waiting time is not wasting time. Waiting patiently in expectation is the foundation of the spiritual life. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
If we want other people to give us something that only God can give, we become a demon. We say, "Love me!"… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Pay attention to the people God puts in your path if you want to discern what God is up to in your… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
We just have to recognize life for what it is: a gift to be grateful for, not a property to cling to,… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
The dance of life finds its beginnings in grief......Here a completely new way of living is revealed. It is the way in… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
To be baptized means to make the passage with the people of Israel and with Jesus from slavery to freedom and from… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the Beloved. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Jesus has to be and become ever more the center of my life. It is not enough that Jesus is my teacher,… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
The life-converting experience is not the discovery that I have choices to make that determine the way I live out my existence,… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
The real enemies of our life are the 'oughts' and the 'ifs.' They pull us backward into the unalterable past and forward… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Who am I? Where have I come from? Where am I going?-are not questions with an answer but questions that open us… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Living a spiritual life requires a change of heart, a conversion. Such a conversion may be marked by a sudden inner change,… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Ministry in no way is a privilege...it is the core of the Christian life. No Christian is a Christian without being a… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Spiritual maturity is not knowing what to do with your whole life, but just knowing what to do next. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
God, help me to see others not as enemies or as ungodly but rather as thirsty people. And give me the courage… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
What once seemed such a curse has become a blessing. All the agony that threatened to destroy my life now seems like… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
A life without a lonely place, that is, without a quiet center, becomes destructive. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
But what I would like to say is that the spiritual life is a life in which you gradually learn to listen… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Life is just a little opportunity for you during a few years to say to God: 'I love you, too.' — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Our life is full of brokenness - broken relationships, broken promises, broken expectations. How can we live with that brokenness without becoming… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Lifting our cup means sharing our life so we can celebrate it. When we truly believe we are called to lay down… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Prayer is the center of the Christian life. It is the only necessary thing. It is living with God, here and now. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
My hope is that the description of God's love in my life will give you the freedom and the courage to discover...… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
We are not the healers, we are not the reconcilers, we are not the givers of life. We are sinful, broken, vulnerable people who… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
The more we touch the intimate love of God which creates, sustains, and guides us, the more we recognize the multitude of fruits that… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Feelings of guilt dominate our work as peacemakers we cannot last long. But when we have opened each other's eyes to the great human… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
...we all want to hear stories, from the moment we are born to the moment we die. Stories connect our little lives with the… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
I have found it very important...to let go of my wishes and start hoping. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Simply being with someone is difficult because it asks of us that we share in the other's vulnerability, enter with him or her into… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
Jesus says, "Keep your heart on the kingdom first. Keep your heart on God's love. Keep focused on the fact that you are God's… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
This sounds very simple and maybe even trite, but very few people know that they are loved without condition or limits. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
“The more preoccupied we are with security the more visible the force of death becomes, whether in the form of a pistol beside our… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
If you feel a great loneliness and a deep longing for human contact, you have to be extremely discerning...and ask yourself whether this situation… — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
I choose L'Arche; L'Arche chooses me. I would be dead if I weren't here. I need people to love me and care for me. — Henri Nouwen Copy Share Image
