Skip to main content

You Are The Beloved



Are there any other readers out there like me? Do you like to dog-ear pages and underline the quotes that move you? Or, if you're reading with tech, highlight and bookmark the pages that cause you to think?

There have been certain books I've read, where I have more page corners flipped over than not. Don't get me started on what I do with all those highlighted passages and underlined quotes. I'm working on a system, but it's kind of like taking sermon notes. I can always go back, plus I pay better attention when I'm intentionally listening for stuff to jot down.

If you read like me, and are a fan of Henri Nouwen, there is a book where you can leave all the pages pristine, because every page is like a highlighted quote. Gabrielle Earnshaw has compiled and edited quotes from all of Nouwen's classics, giving us You Are The Beloved; Daily Meditations for Spiritual Living.
In the introduction she notes, "Henri had a lifelong struggle with loneliness and anxiety." Ultimately, his personal struggles led to his singular writing focus, one in which the reader understood that God loved him before and without any personal effort.

So far I have read about a month of daily readings. I use them to begin my day with a proper focus, often sharing the quotes with my family, to share the wealth of love in Henri's writings.

I received this book from my good friends at Blogging for Books. They don't tell me I have to say nice things, but the good books they offer make that easy to do. If you'd like to read more information about this book, Henri, or grab a copy for yourself, use the links below.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...
5 comments
Read more

But I Wanted It

As I've said before , I'm looking for a new place to do youth ministry. Job searching in itself can be a full time task. Unfortunately, no one is paying me to look for a job. And when you haven't had to find a job in 15 years, the whole experience can feel brand new. And nerve-wracking. And quiet. So very, very quiet. I may spend a few hours here and there sending out my resumes and writing cover letters. But the churches I'm sending my information to have their own timeline. And sometimes that timeline does not involve acknowledging my presence. Which is fine, especially if one of the churches I've applied to is reading this right now. I understand those looking for youth pastors will have their own agenda and their own timeline. But it leaves me sitting here with a deafening quiet around me. I am choosing to walk by faith through these days, picturing God working behind the scenes (always behind the scenes) and holding His voice very still, until He is re...
2 comments
Read more