Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later, and somewhere else. Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.
Interpretation
Patience is about embracing the present moment instead of seeking fulfillment in the future.
This quote by Henri Nouwen emphasizes the value of patience and being fully present in our current circumstances. It suggests that impatience leads us to overlook the richness of our experiences in the moment, often making us believe that our true happiness or fulfillment lies in a distant future. Nouwen encourages us to cultivate patience and trust that what we seek is already available to us in our present situation, urging us to appreciate the here and now.
In practice
Using this quote in a motivational speech to inspire an audience to appreciate their current situation.
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 – for us. And calling us to share in God’s 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.
Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one.
The strong grows in solitude where the weak withers away.
Yes, you should talk," he said. "Sometimes a sad man can talk the sadness right out through his mouth. Sometimes a killin' man can talk the murder right out of his mouth.
Overcome the angry by non-anger; overcome the wicked by goodness; overcome the miser by generosity; overcome the liar by truth.
I know that no business contract, no order or commercial consideration can ever be worth the happiness of one's home or the peace of one's mind.
The principal mark of genius is not perfection but originality, the opening of new frontiers.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.