Henri J.M. Nouwen Quote
For most of my life I have struggled to find God, to know God, to love God. I have tried hard to follow the guidelines of the spiritual life—pray always, work for others, read the Scriptures—and to avoid the many temptations to dissipate myself. I have failed many times but always tried again, even when I was close to despair.Now I wonder whether I have sufficiently realized that during all this time God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me. The question is not How am I to find God? but How am I to let myself be found by him? The question is not How am I to know God? but How am I to let myself be known by God? And, finally, the question is not How am I to love God? but How am I to let myself be loved by God? God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home.
For most of my life I have struggled to find God, to know God, to love God. I have tried hard to follow the guidelines of the spiritual life—pray always, work for others, read the Scriptures—and to avoid the many temptations to dissipate myself. I have failed many times but always tried again, even when I was close to despair.Now I wonder whether I have sufficiently realized that during all this time God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me. The question is not How am I to find God? but How am I to let myself be found by him? The question is not How am I to know God? but How am I to let myself be known by God? And, finally, the question is not How am I to love God? but How am I to let myself be loved by God? God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home.
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About Henri J.M. Nouwen
After nearly two decades of teaching at academic institutions including the University of Notre Dame, Yale Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School, Nouwen went on to work with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities at the L'Arche Daybreak community in Richmond Hill, Ontario.