I posted the words below on Facebook and Liker today in honor of -- perhaps because of our ages -- too many friends of mine who are facing death.
Henri Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest who taught at both Harvard and Yale. But his desire to live more like Jesus made him leave academia to pursue what he called Christlike "Downward Mobility. First, he worked and lived among the poorest of the poor in Latin America. Later he joined the work of the L'Arche Daybreak Community in Canada. Though he died suddenly on this day in 1996, He knew his health was failing when he wrote these words below. They speak to me. I hope they also speak to several Facebook friends I have who are living and dying with cancer, AIDS, MS, Alzheimer's or other catastrophic illnesses. I pray we will all both live and die accordingly. The Peace of God be with you all. Here are Nouwen's words:
The Most Important Choice:
If I die with much anger and bitterness, I will leave my family and friends behind in confusion, guilt, shame, or weakness. When I felt my death approaching, I suddenly realized how much I could influence the hearts of those whom I would leave behind. If I could truly say that I was grateful for what I had lived, eager to forgive and be forgiven, full of hope that those who loved me would continue their lives of joy and peace, and confident that Jesus who calls me would guide all who somehow belonged to my life—if I could do that—I would, in the hour of my death, reveal more true spiritual freedom than I had been able to reveal during all the years of my life. I realize on a very deep level that dying is the most important act of living. It involves a choice to bind others with guilt or to set them free with gratitude.
Henri Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest who taught at both Harvard and Yale. But his desire to live more like Jesus made him leave academia to pursue what he called Christlike "Downward Mobility. First, he worked and lived among the poorest of the poor in Latin America. Later he joined the work of the L'Arche Daybreak Community in Canada. Though he died suddenly on this day in 1996, He knew his health was failing when he wrote these words below. They speak to me. I hope they also speak to several Facebook friends I have who are living and dying with cancer, AIDS, MS, Alzheimer's or other catastrophic illnesses. I pray we will all both live and die accordingly. The Peace of God be with you all. Here are Nouwen's words:
The Most Important Choice:
If I die with much anger and bitterness, I will leave my family and friends behind in confusion, guilt, shame, or weakness. When I felt my death approaching, I suddenly realized how much I could influence the hearts of those whom I would leave behind. If I could truly say that I was grateful for what I had lived, eager to forgive and be forgiven, full of hope that those who loved me would continue their lives of joy and peace, and confident that Jesus who calls me would guide all who somehow belonged to my life—if I could do that—I would, in the hour of my death, reveal more true spiritual freedom than I had been able to reveal during all the years of my life. I realize on a very deep level that dying is the most important act of living. It involves a choice to bind others with guilt or to set them free with gratitude.
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