Henri J.M. Nouwen Quote
One student prays: When I speak to you I strongly suspect that You aren’t out there now and never were. I have lost You and I feel better for it because You diminished me and wouldn’t let me be myself. I always felt I had to consider what You wanted me to do, what image or state of perfection You demanded. Since the time of our separation I’ve grown more selfish. I’m concerned a lot with myself, with my own development as a human being. I suppose I still want to be perfect, but not for my own sake, nor to please You. What matters now are the others.
Henri J.M. Nouwen
One student prays: When I speak to you I strongly suspect that You aren’t out there now and never were. I have lost You and I feel better for it because You diminished me and wouldn’t let me be myself. I always felt I had to consider what You wanted me to do, what image or state of perfection You demanded. Since the time of our separation I’ve grown more selfish. I’m concerned a lot with myself, with my own development as a human being. I suppose I still want to be perfect, but not for my own sake, nor to please You. What matters now are the others.
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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.