Friday, First Week of Lent

 FRIDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT

Look No Further

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope… Psalm 130:5

Aren’t you, like me, hoping that some person, thing or event will come along to give you have final feeling of inner well-being you desire? Don’t you often hope: “May this book, idea, course, trip, job, country or relationship fulfill my deepest desire”? but as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment you will go on running helter-skelter, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied. You know that this is the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy, but at the same time makes us wonder whether we are getting anywhere in the long run. This is the way to spiritual exhaustion and burnout. This is the way to spiritual death. Well, you and I don’t have to kill ourselves. We are the Beloved. We are intimately loved long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children and friends loved us or wounded us. That’s the truth of our lives.

Lord, I have often though that imitation of Christ was impossible because it meant living a life like Christ. But doesn’t it mean living my own life as your beloved child? Yes, I want to do that, and with your grace, I can.

Henri J. M. Nouwen, Renewed FOR LIFE

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