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Aging does not need to be hidden or denied, but can be understood, affirmed and experienced as a process of growth by which the mystery of life is slowly revealed to us.

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
Need
Hidden
Needs
Aging
Life
Mystery
Understood
Affirmed
Growth
Revealed
Age
Denied
Process
Experienced
Doe
Slowly

More quotes by Henri Nouwen

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Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly. The hard truth is that all people love poorly. We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour increasingly. That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family.
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A life without a lonely place, that is, without a quiet center, becomes destructive.
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In solitude we become aware that our worth is not the same as our usefulness.
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If I were to let my life be taken over by what is urgent, I might very well never get around to what is essential.
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I am beginning now to see how radically the character of my spiritual journey will change when I no longer think of God as hiding out and making it as difficult as possible for me to find him, but instead as the one who is looking for me while I am doing the hiding.
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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.
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To live in the present, we must deeply believe that what is most important is in the here and now.
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Forgiveness changes the way we remember.
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You don't think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking.
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When people show you their boundaries (I can't do this for you) you feel rejected...part of your struggle is to set boundaries to your own love. Only when you are able to set your own boundaries will you be able to acknowledge, respect and even be grateful for the boundaries of others.
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Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the Beloved.
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The spiritual life is a reaching out to our innermost self, to our fellow human and to our God.
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Once you are in communion with God, you have the eyes to see and the ears to hear other people in whom God has also found a dwelling place.
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When I trust deeply that today God is truly with me and holds me safe in a divine embrace, guiding every one of my steps I can let go of my anxious need to know how tomorrow will look, or what will happen next month or next year. I can be fully where I am and pay attention to the many signs of God's love within me and around me.
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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 the experience of weakness and powerlessness, become part of the uncertainty, and give up control and self-determination.
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I've had a tremendous problem with depression in my life. I'd rather not talk about it, because it's over. But depression is real.
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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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To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude.
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Christian community is the place where we keep the flame of hope alive among us and take it seriously so that it can grow and become stronger in us.
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Friends share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand.
Henri Nouwen