REMAINING FAITHFUL WITH REVEREND MARY WHITE
Good Afternoon and Blessings
During this theme on solitude, I pray that you have a deeper understanding of aloneness, loneliness and solitude. Henri Nouwen was a Roman Catholic priest who through his writings spoke and wrote the language of our heart. He gave up his life of lecturing, and teaching at Harvard University to live with and serve the people at L’Arche Daybreak in Toronto. Henri Nouwen has been an inspiration to thousands of people worldwide.
Keep safe, Keep connected.
Blessings and the strength of Love be with you.
Rev. Mary
Reading Excerpt from “The Only Necessary Thing”
Solitude is essential to community life because in solitude we grow closer to each other. When we pray alone, study, read, write, or simply spend quiet time away from the places where we interact with each other directly, we are in fact participating fully in the growth of community. It is a fallacy to think that we grow closer to each other only when we talk, play, or work together. Much growth certainly occurs in such human interactions, but at least as much growth can take place when we enter into solitude. We take the other with us into solitude, and there the relationship grows and deepens. In solitude we discover each other in a way which physical presence makes difficult, if not impossible.
by Henri Nouwen
Prayer
Comforting Spirit
It is so hard to be silent, silent with my mouth but more so with my heart. It seems that I am always with inner debates with myself, my friends, my enemies, my supporters, my colleagues and my rivals. These arguments reveal my insecurities, my fear, and my need for being recognized and receiving attention. You, Spirit, will fulfill these needs, if I would simply stop talking and start listening to you. I know that in the silence of my heart, you will speak to me and show me Love. Give me that silence. Let me be patient and grow slowly into this silence in which I can be with you.
Amen