Sunday, November 30, 2008

Lectio Divina - Fifteen


Henri Nouwen, With Open Hands (Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN 1972), 56.


Deep silence leads us to suspect that, in the first place, prayer is acceptance. A man who prays is a man standing with his hands open to the world. He knows that God will show himself in the nature which surrounds him, in the people he meets, in the situations he runs into. He trusts that the world holds God’s secret within it, and he expects that secret to be shown to him. Prayer creates that openness where God can give himself to man. Indeed, God wants to give himself; he wants to surrender himself to the man he has created, he even begs to be admitted into the human heart.



2 comments:

Lindsay Boyer said...

Loving God, help me to stand with my hands open to the world, my heart open to your love. Help me to hear your voice and to recognize your longing for me. You are calling to me; help me to hear your call.

Anonymous said...

Oh God, you are welcome here in this woman's heart. Thank you for making me, thank you for wanting to share your very self with me. Come, dwell with me a while -- a long, long while, please.