To Be in His Presence
The word must become flesh, but the flesh also must become word. It is not enough for us, as human beings, just to live. We also must give words to what we are living. If we do not speak what we are living, our lives lose their vitality and creativity. When we see a beautiful view, we search for words to express what we are seeing.
When we meet a caring person, we want to speak about that meeting. When we are sorrowful or in great pain, we need to talk about it. When we are surprised by joy, we want to announce it! Through the word, we appropriate and internalize what we are living. The word makes our experience truly human.
—Henri J. M. Nouwen
Bread for the Journey
In the beginning, God looked over every aspect of His creation and pronounced “It is good!” until He got to man and saw him standing there alone. To this God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” We need one another; we need community. Nouwen speaks of our needing our life and faith experiences to be expressed in words, or in other words, shared. All of life and faith—the good times and the trying times—need to be expressed, shared, to the end that our joys be celebrated with others and our burdens lightened by others. The isolated are stifled, their joys fleeting, their burdens heavier. Come into community! Share your life’s journey with others who care about you. God Himself saw this to be a very good thing for us humans! —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics