from Out of Solitude by henri nouwen:
"somewhere we know that without a lonely place our lives are in danger. somewhere we know that without silence, words lose their meaning;
that without listening, speaking no longer heals;
that without distance, closeness cannot cure.
somewhere we know that without a lonely place our actions quickly become empty gestures.
the careful balance between
silence and words,
withdrawal and involvement,
distance and closeness,
solitude and community
forms the basis of the Christian life and should therefore be the subject of our most personal attention.
when you are able to create a lonely place in the middle of your actions and concerns, your successes and your failures can lose some of their power over you. for then your love for this world can merge with a compassionate understanding of its illusions.
then your serious engagement can merge with an unmasking smile.
then your concern for others can be motivated more by their needs than your own.
in short, then you can care.
let us therefore live our lives to the fullest, but let us not forget to once in a while get up long before dawn to leave the house and go to a lonely place."
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7 comments:
Talk about a lonely place, try this comments section. Ba-ZING!
(Seriously though, that's Family Guy caliber humor right there)
wow, j. that's cold. real cold.
How do you know it was the Dutchman??
well, first off, it sounds like the dutchman. second, j is usually the only one who doesn't have a link to his own crappy website. so, melvin, if you were really the one and only lucas palmier, you'd probably have signed in and linked us to your own project-pageless webpage. hence, i conclude: the dutchman.
Ooooh, daaang. She's all like "project-pageless" and he be all like "oh no you di-int." Mmmm-HMMM.
Seriously though, Kath. Le Palmier is pretty touchy about that projects page business; I'd say lay off for fear of death threats, if I were you.
Very sleutherly of you on ID-ing the Dutchman, too. Nice work.
Wow... looks like I should read Kat's blog every now and again. It's Palmier fest over here.
And seriously, who needs projects when the traffic from your sites keeps my counter up. THANKS!
You're dead Bob. And "crappy" Kath? Have you seen your newsletter?
danny, you're dangerously close to the silent treatment. plus i don't think i'm going to be sending you my newsletter anymore. don't be so pretentious, mr. "i have a snobby graphic design job and a bunch of interns." i'll be awaiting your apology.
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