Thursday 12 January 2012

A silent friend




“When we honestly ask ourselves which person 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 warm 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, that is a friend who cares.”
Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey


2 comments:

  1. I enjoy your Blogs Linda. They always give me pause for thought and often much cause to smile. Here's a little vignette I learned as a child some fifty or so years ago:

    A wise old owl sat in an oak
    The more he saw the less he spoke
    The less he spoke
    The more he heard
    Why can't I be like that wise old bird?

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  2. Thanks anonymous - I enjoyed that 'wise' saying! Linda

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