O
Lord, how hard it is to accept your way. You come to me as a small, powerless
child born away from home. You live for me as a stranger in your own land. You
die for me as a criminal outside the walls of the city, rejected by your own
people, misunderstood by your friends, and feeling abandoned by your God.
As I prepare to celebrate your birth, I am
trying to feel loved, accepted, and at home in this world, and I am trying to
overcome the feelings of alienation and separation which continue to assail me.
But I wonder now if my deep sense of homelessness does not bring me closer to
you than my occasional feelings of belonging. Where do I truly celebrate your
birth: in a cozy home or in an unfamiliar house, among welcoming friends or
among unknown strangers, with feelings of well-being or with feelings of
loneliness?
I do not have to run away from those
experiences that are closest to yours. Just as you do not belong to this world,
so I do not belong to this world. Every time I feel this way I have an occasion
to be grateful and to embrace you better and taste more fully your joy and
peace.
Come,
Lord Jesus, and be with me where I feel poorest. I trust that this is the place
where you will find your manger and bring your light. Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen. (The Road to Daybreak by Henri
J. M. Nouwen)
You have the gift of spiritual encouragement no doubt. Your ability to share truth along with your personal experiences allow me to see Gods word in living color vs black and white. Thank you for your time, dedication and selflessness.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind words. When you write, your deepest hope is that your own story offers some sense of hope and encouragement to others, but in the silence of the written page sometimes you can never be quite sure if you are connecting. I am grateful for your response! May you always know the depths of God's great affection.
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