Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Healing, one definition

I found this in the April edition of O Magazine:

"When we honestly ask which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not-knowing, not-curing, not-healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness ...makes it clear that whatever happens in the external world, being present to each other is what really matters."

--Henri J. M. Nouwen

2 comments:

Scrivener said...

That's a lovely definition.

Anonymous said...

I've just tagged you for a meme. Don't hate me ;-)
http://pandorasbazaar.blogspot.com/2008/03/crazy-desk-edition.html