Devotions from Henri Nouwen’s book, The Inner Voice of Love

Today’s devotion is about the inner pain of loving someone who is now gone from our lives. When the place where God dwells in us is connected with the place where God dwells in the other, the absence of the other person is not destructive. It will only challenge us to enter more deeply into communion with God, the source of all unity and communion among people.

 It is also possible on the other hand that the pain of absence will show us that we are out of touch with our deepest self. It may show us we need others for our inner wholeness and that we have become emotionally dependent on the other. We can see this played out if we don’t’ feel we can live if the other person is taken away.

But true love between two people puts us more in touch with our deepest self. It is a love in God.The pain we experience from the death or absence of the person we love, will call us into a deeper knowledge of God’s love.  God’s love is all we need, and it reveals to us the love of God in the other. So the God in us can speak to the God in the other. Death or absence does not end or even diminish the love of God that brought us to the other person. It calls us to take a new step into the mystery of God’s inexhaustible love. This process is painful, but the more we are stripped of the God-given support of others, the more we are called to love God for God’s sake.  God is enough!

Devotions from Henri Nouwen’s book, The Inner Voice of Love

Today’s devotion is about daring to stand erect in our struggles and pain.  When we have loneliness, fears, or rejection we may get swept off our feet by these feelings. But we are called to acknowledge them and feel them while remaining on our feet. As we think of Mary, she stood under the cross and she suffered in her sorrow standing.  Jesus said to his disciples about disasters to come, “When these things take place, stand erect, hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.” Luke 2:28.  We have to stand erect in our struggles and not yield to the temptation to complain, to beg, to be overwhelmed, or desire pity.  As long as we remain standing, we can speak freely to others, reach out to them, and receive from them. When we speak and act from our center and invite others to speak from theirs, we find real community and friendship. God will give us the strength to stand in our struggles and to respond to them standing!

Devotions from Henri Nouwen’s book, The Inner Voice of Love

Today’s devotion is on loving deeply. We might be afraid of the pain that love can cause us. When we do love deeply those we love may reject us, leave us, die etc. But just because our heart may be broken doesn’t mean we should hold back. The pain that comes from deep love makes our love ever more fruitful. It is like a plow that breaks the ground to allow the seed to take root and grow into a strong plant. Every time we may experience the pain of rejection, we have a choice. We can become bitter and decide not to love again or we can stand in our pain and let the soil on which we stand become richer and more able to give life to new seeds.  The more we love and allow ourselves to suffer because of love, the more our hearts grow wider and deeper. Even if others leave us, when our hearts are truly giving and receiving, they will not leave our hearts…they will be part of ourselves and our inner community.  The wider our inner community becomes, the more easily we will recognize our brothers and sisters in strangers around us. Thus, the pain of rejection can become fruitful.  Yes, as we love deeply the ground of our hearts will be broken and more and more, but we can rejoice in the abundance of the fruit it will bear.

Devotions from Henri Nouwen’s book The Inner Voice of Love

Today’s devotion is on moving more towards Him and the freedom we have been searching for.  Sometimes we may feel we aren’t making progress and we feel so divided in our inner being, still needing approval and acclaim. We want to be completely dedicated to the Lord and go deeper into our heart and into the heart of God.   We can look at our life like a cone that becomes narrower the deeper we go. There are many doors in that cone and we may desire to close 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 etc. As we do this we go deeper and we embody more and more the truth of our being; It makes us claim the God within us. We may be tempted to think that we are a nobody in the spiritual life and that are friends are far beyond us on the journey. But this is a mistake. We must trust the depth of Gods presence in us and live from there.

Devotions from Henri Nouwen’s book, The Inner Voice of Love

In each of us there is a vulnerable self that seems to be left behind very early in life. It’s the part of us that never felt completely received and so we used many survival skills.  We may complain that it is hard for us to pray and to experience God’s love. But He dwells in our fearful, never received self. When we befriend our true self and discover that it is good, we will see Jesus there. Where we are the most human, most ourselves, weakest, there Jesus lives. So we need to bring our fearful self home. If we keep it distant, it cannot show us its true beauty and wisdom and then we survive without really living. We may look to others to offer us some temporary comfort.  But we need to be patient and not let our fearful self run off. Let it teach us its wisdom; let it tell us that we can live instead of just surviving.  Let us celebrate that Jesus is living within us and offering us all we need, so we can be at peace.

Devotions from Henri Nouwen’s book, The Inner Voice of Love

Today’s devotion is on following our deepest calling. When we discover in ourselves something that is a gift from God, we have to claim it and not let it be taken from us. Sometimes people who don’t know our heart may miss the importance of something that is part of our deepest self.  They might not know us well enough to respond to our genuine needs. It is then that we have to speak our heart and follow our own deepest calling. Many of us may give in too easily to other’s influence and may start questioning and doubting ourselves.  We may end up agreeing with the other before we have consulted our own heart. But instead we need to be attentive to our inner self. Let us act and speak from our solid inner base without apologies-humbly but convincingly.

Devotions from Henri Nouwen’s book, The Inner Voice of Love

Today’s devotion is on following our deepest calling. When we discover in ourselves something that is a gift from God, we have to claim it and not let it be taken from us. Sometimes people who don’t know our heart may miss the importance of something that is part of our deepest self.  They might not know us well enough to respond to our genuine needs. It is then that we have to speak our heart and follow our own deepest calling. Many of us may give in too easily to other’s influence and may start questioning and doubting ourselves.  We may end up agreeing with the other before we have consulted our own heart. But instead we need to be attentive to our inner self. Let us act and speak from our solid inner base without apologies-humbly but convincingly.

P.S. I got in some more berry picking tonight as I can hardly stand to let them go to waste. When I was picking I stayed within my boundaries near the road as it was tempting to venture further over towards my cousin’s house. But that is her plot to pick. Each of us is given a place where we are planted by the Lord and that is the place where we are to bear fruit. But if we look at others and go where they are planted we will miss out on what the Lord has for us.  I saw some luscious berries further in, but resisted the temptation to go there. What I had in my pail was sufficient and I was grateful. I did get scapes and some poison ivey but doesn’t deter me from picking. Let us not give up with minor irritations and inconveniences but carry on His work in the vineyard ( berry patch)!