Current ideas to mull over: The Genesee Diary by Henri Nouwen
Pg 149 "I put too much energy into any encounter, as if I have to prove each time anew that I am worth being with. 'You put you whole identity at stake--and everytime you start from scratch,' John Eudes suggested. "Prayer and meditation are important here because in them you can find your deepest identity, and that keeps you from putting your whole self on the line every time you work with other people." He also told me that it is a proven fact that those who meditate regularly need less sleep. They are more at one with themselves and don't use others in their identity struggle."
Page 158 "When I can slowly detach myself from this need for human affirmation and discover that it is in the relationship with the Lord that I find my true self, an unconditional surrender to him becomes not only possible but even the only desire, and pain inflicted by people will not touch me in the center."
I think that it is really key not to use others in my own identity struggle because I know where I'm wrestling to. My aim is to find myself in the Lord and only there because it is the source of my true identity. I can be secure about myself and my relationships if I abide in full surrender to God.
9:57:13 AM 
|
