Active waiting means present fully to the moment, in the conviction that something is happening where you are and that you want to be present to it.
Interpretation
Active waiting encourages mindfulness and being fully present in the moment, believing that meaningful experiences are occurring around you.
In this quote, Henri Nouwen highlights the concept of 'active waiting' as a crucial practice in our lives. It suggests that rather than passively waiting for events to unfold, we should engage fully with the present moment, trusting that valuable experiences are always happening. This approach fosters a deeper connection to our surroundings and enhances our awareness, allowing us to appreciate life as it occurs rather than merely anticipating the future.
In practice
In a meditation class discussing the importance of mindfulness.
The Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self. God loves us, not because of what we do or accomplish, but because God has created and redeemed us in love.
The immense joy in welcoming back the lost son hides in the immense sorrow that has gone before....our brokenness may appear beautiful, but our brokenness has no other beauty but the beauty that comes from the compassion that surrounds it.
Suffering invites us to place our hurts in larger hands. In Christ we see God suffering β for us. And calling us to share in Godβs suffering love for a hurting world. The small and even overpowering pains of our lives are intimately connected with the greater pains of Christ. Our daily sorrows are anchored in a greater sorrow and therefore a larger hope.
To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, welcome, to accept.
Waiting is a dry desert between where we are and where we want to be. (Finding My Way Home)
Becoming the beloved is pulling the truth revealed to me from above down into the ordinariness of what I am, in fact, thinking of, talking about and doing from hour to hour.
When you've managed to stumble directly into the heart of the unknown - either through the misdirection of others, or better yet, through your own creative ineptitude - there is no one there to hold your hand or tell you what to do. In those bad lost moments, in the times when are advised not to panic, we own the unknown, and the world belongs to us. The child within has full reign. Few of us are ever so free
Acquire the art of detachment, the virtue of method, and the quality of thoroughness, but above all the grace of humility.
Never do anything that isn't play.
You learn things in adversity that you would never have discovered without trouble. There is always a seed of hope.
There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge.
The desire is thy prayers; and if thy desire is without ceasing, thy prayer will also be without ceasing. The continuance of your longing is the continuance of your prayer.
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