Clenched fists

“Dear God, I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!

Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to?

Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands?

Please help me to gradually open my hands and to discover that I am not what I own, but what you want to give me.

And what you want to give me is love, unconditional, everlasting love. Amen.”

— Henri J.M. Nouwen (The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life)

the softest whisper

“God always instructs us . . .

. . . down to the last detail.

Is my ear sensitive enough . . .

. . . to hear even the softest whisper of the Spirit, so that I know what I should do?

He does not speak with a voice like thunder . . .” *

 “The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’
      Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”

I Kings 19:11-12

*Quote by Oswald Chambers,  My Utmost for His Highest, May 13

All things new

“But our moment of solitude is precisely a moment in which we want to be in the presence of our Lord with empty hands, naked, vulnerable, useless, without much to show, prove, or defend. That is how we slowly learn to listen to God’s small voice.”

~Henry Nouwen, Making All Things New, p.76

Question for my readers: Where have you found solitude today?

Magnolia photograph taken by my Middle Son, a boy of many talents and a giant heart of goodness and gold.