Excerpts from Turn My Mourning Into Dancing by Henri Nouwen

“As still not completely converted people we immerse ourselves in clock time. Time becomes a means to an end, not moments in which to enjoy God or pay attention to others. And we end up believing that the real thing is always still to come. Time for celebrating or praying or dreaming gets squeezed out. No wonder we get fatigued and deflated! No wonder we sometimes feel helpless or impoverished in our experience of time. …

But a view of time as kairos helps us to be patient in believing. If we are patient in this sense we can look at all events of each day–expected or unexpected–as holding a promise for us. Patience becomes in us the attitude that says that we cannot force life but have to let it grow by its own time and development. Patience lets us see the people we meet, the events of the day, and the unfolding history of our times all part of that slow process of growth.”

“Compassion in its fullest sense can only be attributed to God. It is the central message of the gospel that God, who in no way is in competition with us, is the One who can be truly compassionate. It is because Jesus was not dependent on people, but only on God, that He could be so close to people, so concerned, so confronting, so healing, so caring. He related to people for their own sake, not His own. To say it in more psychological terms, He paid attention without intention. His question was not, ‘How can I receive satisfaction?’ But ‘How can I respond to your real need?’ This is possible only when there is a deeper satisfaction, a deeper intimacy from whence attention can be paid. Your love for others can be unconditional, without a condition that your needs are gratified, when you have the experience of being loved.”

“Solitude means that our aloneness sometimes does not come as a sad fact needing healing but rather offers a place where God comes to bring communion. In fact, solitude has rich roots and connotations significantly different from two other words often associated with it: Aloneness generally means being by oneself in a neutral way. Loneliness more suggests the pain of desolation or another’s absence. But solitude carries notes of joy and possibility. For solitude, for the Christian, means not just to wander off to woods or desert or mountaintop for private withdrawal. It means daring to stand in God’s presence. Not to guard time simply to be alone, but alone in God’s company.

… Our identity can find its basis only in God’s word to us that we are beloved, not on the world’s fickle promises. In Christ we live as God’s beloved before we were born and after we have died; all the circumstances in between will not negate that.”