October 27-November 2: “See Yourself Truthfully”
This week we will be covering the chapters from “Live Patiently with the “Not Yet” through to “Allow Yourself to be Fully Received” (pages 49-66). The chapters for our discussion will be “See Yourself Truthfully” (page 53), “Stay United with the Larger Body” (page 57) and “Stand Erect in Your Sorrow” (page 61). Please share your thoughts and comments. And if you have a chapter in this section that you want to comment on, please e-mail me (jackgiven@comcast.net) your comment and I will include it as we go through this thought provoking, challenging and life-enriching way of exploring The Inner Voice of Love.
See Yourself Truthfully
Do you believe Henri’s assertion is true that “you cannot fully claim yourself when parts of you are still wayward”? Why? Why not? What can you do?
3 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
October 30th, 2008 @ 10:51 pm
One of the strongholds in my life is my constant attention to my feelings, loneliness, regrets, etc. In so doing, I put my trial (emotional pain) above others trials (whatever it is for them) and am not truly present to them, i.e. listening, connecting, understanding, providing unconditional love, being the embodiment of the love of Christ in their lives. I think I have erected a shell around my heart and it is cracking a little but it needs to be shattered. It will be painful (is painful) but if I stay with the pain, I can trust Him to bring me through it - learning that I can acutually trust Him and to stand stronger in the process. In turn pouring the lessons learned in the storms back into the lives of those God puts in my path, having had my heart hammered so I can be that vessel of healing for others.
October 28th, 2008 @ 8:58 am
I understand “wayward” as Henri uses it as the parts of myself that are separated from my truth as a beloved child of God. He says “you have to be willing to live your loneliness, your incompleteness, your lack of total incarnation, and trust that God will give you the people to keep showing you the truth of who you are. ” (p.54) What can I do? “You have to start seeing yourself as your truthful friends see you.” Henri notes this cannot be forced, but that we acknowledge where we are and AFFIRM that place. The affirmation of myself as I am places me in God’s hands. The rest will follow in His time. Hard to live this out, but it is the way of Christ to some degree. I cannot do it without His grace.
October 24th, 2008 @ 12:37 pm
When I read “The Inner Voice of Love” I need to remind myself that Nouwen was writing to himself. As he said: “This book is my secret journal. It was written during the most difficult period of my life…” And so, when he writes about “you” he is talking to himself. And yet much of what he addresses to “you” also applies to me. When I read this “See Yourself Truthfully”, two familiar quotes (at least familiar to me) came to mind: First, “Oh wad some power the giftie gie us to see oursels as others see us!” (Robert Burns - 1786 - in “To a Louse - On Seeing One on a Lady’s Bonnet in Church”)
Secondly, “If we all knew all there is to know about each other no two people would be left on earth as friends.” (Anonymous…at least to me) Do you have any friends…or just one…before whom you can be completely truthful? (Maybe not dumping the entire load on them at once…but giving a bit at a time knowing you’ll still be valued and respected?)
Nouwen closes this section with: “…trust that God will give you the people to keep showing you the truth of who you are.” I can attest that if one is brave enough to be vulnerable God does just that! And any “friend” who would abandon me after knowing some of my insides isn’t really worth the title “friend.”