How Was Your Summer ?

Was your summer full of busyness... or a refuge from our normal crazy lifestyle?

I spent some of my summer wondering why I was unsettled. I looked many places. Conversations with John and other friends. I read some books that had been patiently waiting their turn and I listened to radio or my music. I blamed my Dad for leaving me, and then realized how silly but also how sad that made me. I worried about my (grown-up) kids and wished I was where I could be of help in some way. I spent time in silence. I found as the days moved on that the best times followed the silence. After the silence, the friends and the books and the radio meant so much more. My kids are fine. And I'm not mad at Dad any more.

“When we enter into solitude to be with God alone, we quickly discover how dependent we are. Without the many distractions of our daily lives, we feel anxious and tense. When nobody speaks to us, calls on us, or needs our help, we start feeling like nobodies. Then we begin wondering whether we are useful, valuable, and significant. Our tendency is to leave this fearful solitude quickly and get busy again to reassure ourselves that we are ’somebodies.’ But that is a temptation, because what makes us somebodies is not other people’s responses to us but God’s eternal love for us.” - Henri Nouwen

later man, jan