Henri Nouwen on Those Who Care
August 18th, 2008 at 10:33 am by Dee O'Neil Andrews
"When we honestly ask ourselves which people in our lives mean
the most to us, we often find that it’s those who – instead of giving
advice, solutions, or cures – have chosen rather to share our pain and
touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand.
The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or
confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief or bereavement, who
can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing, and face with us the
reality of our powerlessness – that is the friend who cares."
- Henri Nouwen
I’m taking a brief break from my law career. I think the "series" has gotten a bit long, and so I think what I’ll do for a while is intersperse legal stories with other posts. Another reason is that my readership has gone down the tubes the past couple of weeks. Apparently, those who stop by are either getting bored or else don’t want to start reading a blog that is in the middle of a long series of posts that they don’t have the time or inclination to read. At least, it seems that way . . .
What do you think? Those of you who are still reading?
As for the Nouwen quote above, I’ve had it for a very long time and for years carried it in my purse. I like it that much and think it sums up very well how we can be of greatest service to those around us in this life.
Many times there are no answers to events that occur in our lives. There are no cures or even advice that can be given. At times, only silence together is appropriate and even more, significant.
Thinking about that reminds me of the lyrics to one of Josh Groban’s biggest hits, "You Raise Me Up." I love that song. Especially the first stanzas, so I will share them with you here before I go.
When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up… To more than I can be.
Many blessings to you today, my friends! Dee
morning Dee,
love the post,
I was without a pc, for 4 weeks, so I hav’nt been able to come over here to read, and have missed it!
how did your toe ever get?
huggs
Great post. I love Henry Nouwen’s writings.
That quote is so true. I have 2 really good friends who rode out the passing of my Mother at the Hospital with me. They said very little but they were there.
I’m still trying to catch up on the law career, but did not find it boring at all! When my mother died, one of the elders and his wife from Long Beach flew (at their expense) to Birmingham, Alabama then rented a car and drove 120 miles to north Alabama to be with my family and me. Cecil (cwinwc above) and his family drove up from Florida (about a 750-mile trip) to be with us as well. There are no better friends than friends like that.
I’m enjoying your law career stories and look forward to hearing more. But I also love this post and whole-heartedly concur. Sometimes in the storms of life, advice is the last thing one really needs. It’s so good to have a friend who cares sit quietly with you, agreeing that while it’s happened, it’s still a rotten break! I believe it’s in Phillip Yancey’s books that I’ve read a lot of quotes from Henri Nouwen. They are always pretty much dead on and insightful. Thanks for today’s post.
I have not been by in over a week so I read up today while I had some moments of quite with everyone sleeping! How very interesting your law career stories are to read as well as today’s post.
Thanks!
Thanks for the comment on my blog. It is a little scary thinking about all that lint in the walls. It is still somewhat of a treat. We have vacuumed out what we can get to but no telling what is still in between the walls and under the floor boards. We have owned three houses, the first one we saw built from the ground up but the other two, we bought new but the walls were up before we got involved (this one was completely finished). I am not impressed with this builder at all, we had a water leak a few years ago and they had to punch holes in the wall to dry it out and we found bags of fast food under the stairs (they had just walled it up with all kinds of trash under there) Makes me very pleased that I insisted that we get a pest control service from day one and we get it sprayed every 12 weeks. No telling what kinda pest we would have if not for that. Oh well, Life goes on! By the way, how is your foot doing?
I’ve not been bored at all with the law school stories! In fact, nothing of yours I’ve read has even been boring. I only wish I had your gift!
I like that Josh Groban song, too. The first time I heard it, though, I thought it sounded a lot like “Danny Boy.”
This post opened my eyes to a blessing and a lesson from God that I had not noticed in my life this past week. Thank you.
Also, the faces of the friends who appeared by my side when my sister died and my heart was in a puddle on the floor – those faces are permanently etched in my mind. I can only give thanks.