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The resistance to praying is like the resistance of tightly clenched fists. This image shows a tension, a desire to cling tightly to yourself, a greediness which betrays fear.

Henri Nouwen

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Henri Nouwen
Age: 64 †
Born: 1932
Born: January 24
Died: 1996
Died: September 21
Catholic Priest
Presbyter
Priest
Psychologist
Theologian
University Teacher
Writer
Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen
Tension
Resistance
Greediness
Image
Clenched
Praying
Betrays
Desire
Tightly
Fear
Cling
Shows
Fists
Like
Betray

More quotes by Henri Nouwen

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Through discipline, discipline is the other side of discipleship. If you want to follow Jesus, you have to have discipline.
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The church is not an institution forcing us to follow rules but a community inviting us to still our hunger and thirst at its table.
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In solitude we become aware that we were together before we came together and that life is not a creation of our will but rather an obedient response to the reality of our being united.
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Compassion can never coexist with judgement because judgement creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other.
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What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life.
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In solitude we become aware that our worth is not the same as our usefulness.
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Pay attention to the people God puts in your path if you want to discern what God is up to in your life.
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Writing is not just a job. It helps me to pray. It's a way of being.
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One of the main tasks of theology is to find words that do not divide but unite, that do not create conflict but unity, that do not hurt but heal.
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Dear God, I am so afraid to open my clenched fists! Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to? Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands? Please help me to gradually open my hands and to discover that I am not what I own, but what you want to give me.
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Discipline in the spiritual life is the concentrated effort to create the space and time where God can become our master and where we can respond freely to God's guidance.
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Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be.
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Asking people for money is giving them the opportunity to put their resources at the disposal of the Kingdom.
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To be baptized means to make the passage with the people of Israel and with Jesus from slavery to freedom and from death to new life. It is a commitment to a life in and through Jesus.
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If you want to know anything about community, you have to realize that the contemplative side is essential. Community without retreating and quiet time never survives.
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The best of community does give one a deep sense of belonging and well-being and in that sense community takes away loneliness.
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As ministers our greatest temptation is toward too many words. They weaken our faith and make us lukewarm. But silence is a sacred discipline, a guard of the Holy Spirit.
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The real 'work' of prayer is to become silent and listen to the voice that says good things about me.
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Community life is not easy for somebody like me, who is used to living by himself and doing what he wants. It's a demanding life, and you quickly get in touch with your own handicaps and weaknesses.
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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 gifts among all people we can indeed make peacemaking a way of being.
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