Devotions from Henri Nouwen’s book The Voice of Love

Devotions these next days will be taken from Henri’s book written in the darkest time of his life when he lost his self-esteem, his energy to live and work, his sense of being loved, and even his hope in God. He came face to face with his own nothingness and all that had given his life meaning. He was in a safe community at the time, L-Arche, a community of people with mental disabilities. There he hit bottom!  He felt like even God had abandoned him. But in time it became a place of purification that led to new inner freedom, new hope, and new creativity. Each of us has a deep hole in our being that we can never succeed in filling. The hole is enormous and we may be tempted to flee from it by avoiding it, or by becoming absorbed in our pain. He talks of the need to enter our own heart and the heart of God through our pain. God will send to us people with whom we can share and will lead us closer to the true source of love. God is faithful and it is He who will fill our heart and satisfy our deepest desire.