"Who Are We?" from Henri Nouwen

WHO ARE WE?

Henri J.M. Nouwen
Exploring our Christian Identity
(excerpt from the taped message)

You are:
a. A child of God
b. the one who I call my child (son/daughter)
c. I hold you in the palm of my hand
d. I have engraved you on the palms of my hand
e. I have fashioned you in the depths of the earth
f. I have molded you together in your mother’s womb
g. You belong to me/I belong to you
h. You and I are united in love from all eternity
i. Before your mother, father, brothers, sisters, teacher, your school touched you
I loved you
I called you
I held you safe
I saw you
I embraced you
j. You are my child, my daughter. You belong to me.
We need to hear this voice and keep hearing Him say, You are mine.
The Spiritual Life is a life in which you more and more and more hear

that voice,

in which you come gradually in touch with the mysterious truth:
That you were loved
that you were cared for
and looked at with immense affection,

long before you entered into this little world, into clock time
I have called you from all eternity
I have loved you from all eternity
You belong to me
I am your lover
I love you not because you did good things
I love you not because you have a lot of things
I love you not because people speak well of you

or you have so many talents

I love you because I love you
because I love you
Because I love you.
As my child, who belongs to me, I am sending you into the world
where people will laugh at you
where people will praise you
Where people will reject you
Where people will accept you
Where people will speak well of you
Where people will speak bad of you.
Whatever happens in the world, you do NOT belong to that world
You belong to Me, long long before you could even think, speak, talk, or love, yourself
You belong to God from all eternity and you are sent into the world for a little moment

and called back

to be,

for all eternity,

in that great embrace of love.