Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later, and somewhere else. Let's be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.
Interpretation
Patience is about embracing the present moment instead of seeking fulfillment in the future.
This quote by Henri Nouwen emphasizes the value of patience and being fully present in our current circumstances. It suggests that impatience leads us to overlook the richness of our experiences in the moment, often making us believe that our true happiness or fulfillment lies in a distant future. Nouwen encourages us to cultivate patience and trust that what we seek is already available to us in our present situation, urging us to appreciate the here and now.
In practice
Using this quote in a motivational speech to inspire an audience to appreciate their current situation.
The Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self. God loves us, not because of what we do or accomplish, but because God has created and redeemed us in love.
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To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, welcome, to accept.
Waiting is a dry desert between where we are and where we want to be. (Finding My Way Home)
Becoming the beloved is pulling the truth revealed to me from above down into the ordinariness of what I am, in fact, thinking of, talking about and doing from hour to hour.
Perfect is not on the menu. Nobody is going to be your ideal candidate. You can't dream somebody up out of nothing that's going to be the perfect candidate, so you do have to pick between a series of bad choices.
Learn to distinguish what you can and can't control. Within our control are our own opinions, aspirations, desires and the things that repel us. They are directly subject to our influence.
The end of knowledge is power ... the scope of all speculation is the performing of some action or thing to be done.
When any fit of gloominess, or perversion of mind, lays hold upon you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaints, but exert your whole care to hide it; by endeavouring to hide it; you will dry it away. Be always busy.
Outward judgment often fails, inward judgment never.
When you have overcome one temptation, you must be ready to enter the lists with another. As distrust, in some sense, is the mother of safety, so security is the gate of danger.
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