nouwen 4: God's Unconditional Love

What can we say about God's love? We can say that God's love is unconditional. God does not say, "I love you, if..." There are no "ifs" in God's heart. God's love for us does not depend on what we say or do, on our looks or intelligence, on our success or popularity. God's love for us existed before we were born and will exist after we have died. God's love is from eternity to eternity and is not bound to any time-related events or circumstances. Does that mean that God does not care what we do or say? No, because God's love wouldn't be real if God didn't care. To love without condition does not mean to love without concern. God desires to enter into relationship with us and wants us to love God in return- Bread for Life

To love without condition does not mean to love without concern. Such a profound statement. May we all feel the unconditional love of God resting upon us. May that unconditional love give us a deep peace that only can happen through knowing that we are fully accepted.

have a great weekend.

nouwen 3: an invitation

The invitation to a life of prayer is the invitation to live in the midst of this world without being caught in the net of wounds and needs. The word "prayer" stands for a radical interruption of the vicious chain of interlocking dependencies leading to violence and war and for an entering into a totally new dwelling place. It points to a new way of speaking, a new way of breathing, a new way of being together, a new way of knowing, yes, a whole new way of living.

It is not easy to express the radical change that prayer represents, since for many the word "prayer" is associated with piety, talking to God, thinking about God, morning and evening exercises, sunday services, grace before meals, sentences from the Bible, and many other things. All of these have something to do with prayer, but when i speak about prayer...I speak first of all about moving away from the dwelling place of those who hate peace into the house of God...Prayer is the center of the Christian life. It is the only necessary thing (luke 10:42). It is living with God here and now.

- Prayer and Peacemaking

Prayer... this is a hard one for me... my life has become my prayer, but prayer is more than that. I seek in this season to get to a place of deeper prayer, a place of deeper living.

henri nouwen- The road to daybreak

The Three Monks of Tolstoy

Three Russian monks lived on a faraway island. Nobody ever went there, but one day their bishop decided to make a pastoral visit. When he arrived he discoverd that the monks didn't even know the lords prayer. So he spent all his time and energy teaching them the "our father" and then left satisfied with his pastoral work. But when his ship had left the the island and was back in the open sea, he suddenly noticed he three hermits walking on the water-in fact, they were running after the ship! When they reached it they cried, "Dear Father, we have forgotten the prayer you taught us." The bishop, overwhelmed by what he was seeing and hearing said, "But, dear brothers, how then do you pray?" they answered, "Well, we just say, Dear God, there are three of us and there are three of you, have mercy on us!" The bishop, awestruck by their sanctity and simplicity, said, "Go back to your island and be at peace." ~the road to daybreak

We always believe that our way is best. May we listen more than we speak. May we see with the fullness of our beings and not simply with our eyes.

oh lord, my god and savior, jesus christ, i keep asking you to give me the grace of conversion. Day and night i hope for only one thing: that you show your mercy to me and let me experience your presence in my heart. Let me come to a genuine act of repentance, to an honest humble prayer, and to a free spontaneous generosity. I see so clearly the road to follow! i understand so well what is necessary for me to come to you. I can speak and teach eloquently about life in you. But my heart hesitates my inner and deepest self still holds back, wanting to bargain, wanting to say "yes, but..."

O lord, do i keep forgetting that you love me, that you are waiting for me with open arms? as a father with tears in his eyes, you see how your son is destroying the very life you gave him. Yet as a father you know, too, that you cannot force me to come back to you. Only when i freely come to you when i freely shake off the false cares and troubles and freely confess my false ways and freely pray for mercy, only then can you freely give me your love.

hear my prayer, o lord, hear my plea, hear my desire to return to you. do not leave me alone in my struggle, free me from bondage and save me from eternal damnation and show me the beauty of your face. Come, lord jesus, come. Amen

~ Henri Nouwen


I love in moments of speechlessness before God when there are those who have come before you and uttered the words you can not find. Thank your dear henri

"curiosidad mato al gato"

I don’t know what it is but I have always had a deep sense of curiosity. I was and still am that kid who say why…why…why? Last week this curiosity struck again. I kept wonder stupid things like why a butterfly is called a “butter-fly”. (Ps. Don’t look it up you will never look at them the same.) I love etymology of words. To see where they first got their meaning and their root. I love history and what it tells us about our decisions today.

Even the title of this blog struck me as odd when I realized I didn’t know where this came from. So here is an answer for you.


Curiosity killed the cat is a proverb used to warn against being too curious lest one come to harm. A less frequent rejoinder to 'curiosity killed the cat' is 'satisfaction brought it

Origins

The earliest printed reference to the origin of this proverb is attributed to British playwright Ben Jonson in his 1598 play, Every Man in His Humour (performed first by British playwright William Shakespeare).
...Helter skelter, hang sorrow, care will kill a cat, up-tails all, and a pox on the hangman.
In this instance, "care" was defined as "worry" or "sorrow."

Shakespeare used a similar quote in his circa 1599 play, Much Ado About Nothing:
“What, courage man! what though care killed a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care”

Usages
Curiosity killed the cat literally means:
Mind your own business. Being nosy and getting yourself involved in unnecessary things can lead to problems.

▪ The proverb remained the same until at least 1898. Ebenezer Cobham Brewer included this definition in his Dictionary of Phrase and Fable:
Care killed the Cat.
It is said that "a cat has nine lives," yet care would wear them all out.

The origin of the modern variation is unknown. The earliest known printed reference that is similar in style and meaning to the current proverb is O. Henry's short story Schools and Schools from 1909:

Curiosity can do more things than kill a cat; and if emotions, well recognized as feminine, are inimical to feline life, then jealousy would soon leave the whole world catless.

▪ The earliest known printed reference to the actual phrase occurred in The Washington Post on 4 March 1916 (page 6):
CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT.
▪ 
Four Departments of New York City Government Summoned to Rescue Feline.

From the New York World.

Curiosity, as you may recall—

On the fifth floor of the apartment house at 203 West 130th street lives Miss Mable Godfrey. When she came to the house about seven months ago she brought Blackie, a cat of several years' experience of life.

The cat seldom left the apartment. He was a hearth cat, not a fence cat, and did not dearly love to sing. In other respects he was normal and hence curious.

Last Tuesday afternoon when Miss Godfrey was out Blackie skipped into the grate fireplace in a rear room. He had done this many times before. But he had not climbed up the flue to the chimney. This he did Tuesday. Blackie there remained, perched on the top of the screen separating the apartment flue from the main chimney, crying for assistance. Miss Godfrey, returning, tried to induce her pet to come down. If you are experienced in felinity, you know that Blackie didn't come down.

On Wednesday the cat, curiosity unsatisfied, tried to climb higher—and fell to the first floor. His cries could still be heard by Miss Godfrey; who, to effect Blackie's rescue, communicated with the following departments:
1. Police department.
2. Fire department.
3. Health department.
4. Building department.
5. Washington Heights court.

Among them they lowered a rope to Blackie. But it availed neither the cat nor them anything.
Thursday morning, just before noon, a plumber opened the rear wall back of the chimney. Blackie was taken out. His fall had injured his back. Ten minutes later Blackie died.

The proverb, though, has been widely attributed to Eugene O'Neill who included the variation, "Curiosity killed a cat!" in his play Diff'rent from 1920:

you feed information to people that revolves around their lives. very intrusive and flattering. but very unwelcoming.

BENNY—(with a wink) Curiosity killed a cat! Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies.


This is what I love most about curiosity, you can actually learn something new everyday. The problem with curiosity is that it can and often does get you in trouble. People and organizations do not like to be asked questions. They don’t want to be held accountable to reason and inspection.

Well enough on that I’m off to kill some more cats ☺

innocence

Christmas more than any other time in our lives seems to pull out the worst in people. I have found myself the last two weeks with a consistently broken heart. I think a deeper understanding and connection to the theology of the imago dei would awaken us to treat our fellow humans better.

(image of God) As a theological term, is applied uniquely to humans, which denotes the symbolical relation between God and humanity. The term has its roots in Genesis 1:27, wherein "God created man in his own image. . ." This scriptural passage does not mean that God is in human form, but rather, that humans are in the image of God in their moral, spiritual, and intellectual nature. Thus, humans mirror God's divinity in their ability to actualize the unique qualities with which they have been endowed, and which make them different than all other creatures: rational structure , complete centeredness, creative freedom, a possibility for self-actualization, and the ability for self-transcendence.

“The term imago Dei refers most fundamentally to two things: first, God's own self-actualization through humankind; and second, God's care for humankind. To say that humans are in the image of God is to recognize the special qualities of human nature which allow God to be made manifest in humans. In other words, for humans to have the conscious recognition of their being in the image of God means that they are the creature through whom God's plans and purposes can be made known and actualized. This also creates a unique connection among humans in their care for one another. If we are all made in God’s image then how we care for one another directly relates to how we understand and care for God. Humans, in this way, can be seen as Created co-creators with God. The moral implications of the doctrine of imago Dei are apparent in the fact that if humans are to love God, then humans must love other humans, as each is an expression of God.. Humans differ from all other creatures because of their rational structure - their capacity for deliberation and free decision-making. This freedom gives the human a centeredness and completeness, which allows the possibility for self-actualization and participation in a sacred reality. However, the freedom which makes the human in God's image is the same freedom which manifests itself in estrangement from God, as the narrative of the Fall (Adam and Eve) exemplifies. According to this narrative, humans can, in their freedom, choose to deny or repress their spiritual and moral likeness to God. The ability and desire to love one's self and others, and therefore, God, can become neglected and even opposed. Striving to bring about the imago Dei in one's life can be seen as the quest for wholeness, or one's "essential" self, as pointed to in Christ's life and teachings.”

At Christmas when we celebrate the coming of God into the world, taking on the fullness of humanity, embodying our status of imago dei status, I am confounded with the image he presents. His image is that of an infant… gentle…full of peace and lacking the capacity to harm another… dependant… and full of innocence. This season may we embody the imago dei!