Clinging to God in Solitude
August 19, 2007 | Filed Under henri nouwen, spiritual formation |
“When we enter into solitude to be with God alone, we quickly discover how dependent we are. Without the many distractions of our daily lives, we feel anxious and tense. When nobody speaks to us, calls on us, or needs our help, we start feeling like nobodies. Then we begin wondering whether we are useful, valuable, and significant. Our tendency is to leave this fearful solitude quickly and get busy again to reassure ourselves that we are ’somebodies.’ But that is a temptation, because what makes us somebodies is not other people’s responses to us but God’s eternal love for us.”
- Henri Nouwen (HT: dream awakener)
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Thanks for the reminder, Brad.
How true has Nouwen’s observations been in my life.
What touched me most today: it is the love of God the premise upon which my identity is shaped an nothing else, at all, nowhere else, and forever.
Just spent the last 1 hour with BCP for Ausgust 19 in solitude with the Lord but also praying with the church. Glorious.