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Quotes from With Open Hands — Henri Nouwen

1932–1996 Netherlands

← All quotes by Henri Nouwen

7 quotes

To pray means to open your hands before God.

With Open Hands (1972)

It is the unceasing recognition that God is wherever we are, always inviting us to come closer and to celebrate the divine gift of being alive.

With Open Hands (1972)

In all these moments, we gradually make our lives more of a prayer and we open our hands to be led by God even to places we would rather not go.

With Open Hands (1972)

In prayer, you encounter God not only in the small voice and the soft breeze, but also in the midst of the turmoil of the world, in the distress and joy of your neighbor and in the loneliness of your own heart.

With Open Hands (1972)

Prayer leads you to see new paths and to hear new melodies in the air. Prayer is the breath of your life which gives you freedom to go and to stay where you wish and to find the many signs which point out the way to a new land.

With Open Hands (1972)

In the end, a life of prayer is a life with open hands where we are not ashamed of our weakness but realize that it is more perfect for us to be led by the Other than to try to hold everything in our own hands.

With Open Hands (1972)

Sometimes we like a book, sometimes we prefer music. Sometimes we want to sing out with hundreds, sometimes only whisper with a few. Sometimes we want to say it with words, sometimes with a deep silence.

With Open Hands (1972)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Henri Nouwen (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.