Nouwen on Lust and Anger (I)
Submitted by Ford Prefect on February 03 2001 09:36:58
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Daily Meditation: February 2 by Henri Nouwen; from Bread for the Journey, Harper Collins, New York, 1997 Being Merciful with Ourselves We need silence in our lives. We even desire it. But when we enter into silence we encounter a lot of inner noises, often so disturbing that a busy and distracting life seems preferable to a time of silence. Two disturbing "noises" present themselves quickly in our silence: the noise of lust and the noise of anger. Lust reveals our many unsatisfied needs, anger, our many unresolved relationships. But lust and anger are very hard to face. What are we to do? Jesus says, "Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13). Sacrifice here means "offering up," "cutting out," "burning away," or "killing." We shouldn't do that with our lust and anger. It simply won't work. But we can be merciful toward our own noisy selves and turn these enemies into friends. |
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