Daily 5 - Day 6

Today was a much more challenging day. Very hard to find the positive things. Very hard to find smiles and joy. And very, very long. So, instead of having time to write about yesterday, or taking time to write about today, I'm going to put both of those things off for another day or two, and go to bed.

But, first, today's daily 5:

1. Blackberries from the farmer's market
2. Mexican food for dinner
3. the company of a long time friend and lots of laughs
4. listening to a sermon driving home, while desperately in need of some encouragement and finding it there
5. wearing "hope" that a friend mailed to me recently around my neck all day (and receiving a few compliments on it, and the earrings that match it.)
   

Several from Henri

It's been a little while since I've shared from Henri Nouwen, but here are a few that I've been storing up in my inbox.

Keeping the Peace in Our Hearts

Whatever we do in the Name of Jesus, we must always keep the peace of Jesus in our hearts. When Jesus sends his disciples out to preach the Gospel, he says: "Whatever town or village you go into, seek out someone worthy and stay with him until you leave. As you enter his house, salute it, and if the house deserves it, may your peace come upon it; if it does not, may your peace come back to you" (Matthew 10:11-13).

The great temptation is to let people take our peace away. This happens whenever we become angry, hostile, bitter, spiteful, manipulative, or vengeful when others do not respond favourably to the good news we bring to them.

Hiddenness, a Place of Intimacy

Hiddenness is an essential quality of the spiritual life. Solitude, silence, ordinary tasks, being with people without great agendas, sleeping, eating, working, playing ... all of that without being different from others, that is the life that Jesus lived and the life he asks us to live. It is in hiddenness that we, like Jesus, can increase "in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and with people" (Luke 2:51). It is in hiddenness that we can find a true intimacy with God and a true love for people.

Even during his active ministry, Jesus continued to return to hidden places to be alone with God. If we don't have a hidden life with God, our public life for God cannot bear fruit.

Hiddenness, a Place of Purification

One of the reasons that hiddenness is such an important aspect of the spiritual life is that it keeps us focused on God. In hiddenness we do not receive human acclamation, admiration, support, or encouragement. In hiddenness we have to go to God with our sorrows and joys and trust that God will give us what we most need.

In our society we are inclined to avoid hiddenness. We want to be seen and acknowledged. We want to be useful to others and influence the course of events. But as we become visible and popular, we quickly grow dependent on people and their responses and easily lose touch with God, the true source of our being. Hiddenness is the place of purification. In hiddenness we find our true selves.

Clinging to God in Solitude

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.

To claim the truth of ourselves we have to cling to our God in solitude as to the One who makes us who we are.

Here We Go...

It promises to be a busy day.

But it's going to wrap up with Mexican food for dinner, with one of my oldest friends. Well, oldest in that I've known her the longest. Because actually, we share a birthday, and I'm just a few hours older than her. On the other hand, she's about a foot taller than me.

I'll be putting the procedure I wrote for work last night into action this morning. And then I suspect I'll be revising it yet again.

Ah well...

And with that, I'm diving in...

Here goes!