Henri Nouwen wrote, “The church is perhaps one of the few places left where we can meet people who are different than we are but with whom we can form a larger family.”
The spiritual life is that constant movement between the poles of loneliness and solitude, hostility and hospitality,
[Note: All quotes are from Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life)
illusion and prayer. The more we come to the painful confession of our loneliness, hostility and illusions, the more we
are able to see solitude, hospitality and prayer as part of the vision of our life.
Read Nouwen’s description of the movement between the elements: