If indeed the spiritual life is essentially a hidden life, how do we protect this hiddenness in the midst of a very public life? The two most important ways to protect our hiddenness are solitude and poverty. Solitude allows us to be alone with God. There we experience that we belong not to people, not even to those who love us and care for us, but to God and God alone. Poverty is where we experience our own and other people's weakness, limitations, and need for support. To be poor is to be without success, without fame, and without power. But there God chooses to show us God's love.
Both solitude and poverty protect the hiddenness of our lives.
For further reflection...
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them... -Luke 6: 12,13 (NIV)
This post was written by Henri Nouwen. You can find his website here: henrinouwen.org
Both solitude and poverty protect the hiddenness of our lives.
For further reflection...
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them... -Luke 6: 12,13 (NIV)
This post was written by Henri Nouwen. You can find his website here: henrinouwen.org
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