Meditation Brings Us to the Source of Love – Henri Nouwen

Human withdrawal [for meditation] is a very painful and lonely process, because it forces us to directly face our own condition in all its misery as well as its beauty. But when we are not afraid to enter into our own center and to concentrate on the stirrings of our own souls, we come to know that being alive means being loved. This experience tells us that we can only love because we are born out of love, that we can only give because our life is a gift, and that we can only make others free because we are set free by the One whose heart is greater than ours.

And when we have found the anchor places for our lives in our own center we can be free to let others enter into the space created for them, and allow them to dance their own dance, sing their own song, and speak their own language without fear. Then our presence is no longer threatening and demanding, but inviting and liberating.