Being a visual person, I was delighted to receive an artistic representation of a quote by Henri JM Nouwen on a thank you card from a Lutheran ministry. It reads “One of the most powerful experiences in a life of compassion is the expansion of our hearts into a world embracing space of healing from which no one is excluded.”  I immediately tacked it up above my desk and began pondering the words and phrases.  Next I Googled Henri Nouwen and discovered that he and I shared a birthday! 

Henry Nouwen was ordained a Catholic priest in the Netherlands. He went on to study and teach in many parts of the world, including many years in the United States.  He focused on theology and psychology, writing several books. He even has an award named after him. 

The last ten years of his life (1986-1996) was spent in a eucharistically centered community in Canada where he provided pastoral and spiritual care to developmentally disabled people.  It is said he felt he had found his purpose in life.  I think that this quote speaks directly to that purpose.

When we try to live a compassionate life, our hearts expand. We grow and heal because we are thinking of others and not ourselves.  We will see and feel others pain and suffering, and our hearts will embrace them.  We will begin to see others as Jesus sees everyone. No one is excluded from God’s love. Keep trying to expand your hearts to include everyone and enjoy the unconditional love you get every day from God.

Nancy.