Presence and Abscence

I not only get a daily email from the Henri Nouwen society, I also get several others, including one from Sojourners, who used a great quote from Henri Nouwen as their "quote of the day" today. I liked the quote enough to pass it along!


Precisely where we feel most present to each other we experience deeply the absence of those we love. And precisely at moments of great loss we can discover a news sense of closeness and intimacy. This is also what the Eucharist is about. We announce the presence of Christ among us until he comes again! There is both presence and absence, closeness, and distance, an experience of at-homeness on the way home.- Henri J.M. Nouwen (Sabbatical Journey)