Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15
“Not every letter Henri received was from a soul in trouble! Here he writes to a woman whose problem is that she has a wonderful life but is longing for a more personal, intimate and direct relationship with God.
Dear Ruth,
Many thanks for your very lovely letter. I am grateful to you for writing me about yourself and your family, especially about your desire to grow closer to the Lord.
You have, indeed, lived a very rich and beautiful life, and God has blessed you in many ways. I guess in our culture there are few people who could say the things you can say and tell the stories you can tell.
In some way I feel that God has been very active in your life and has been very generous to you and your family. What you seem to ask for is for more intimate, direct, personal contact with Him, a way of experiencing Him more directly. It is a beautiful desire to have, and the desire itself shows God’s special love for you.
I, obviously, do not have a simple answer to your question, but two things come to mind. First of all is gratitude. Maybe you could try to develop a prayer of gratitude. Many people find it hard to be grateful. Many people feel that they need more than they have and are often angry that they do not receive what they want. You have the experience of being given many good things, and, therefore, it will be easier for you to live a life of gratefulness. Gratitude is one of the greatest Christian virtues. “Eucharist” means saying thanks, and if you could say thanks, not just for what you have received, but also for all the gifts God gives to his people, your life would become more and more a Eucharistic life, a life in which you say thanks to the giver of life.
Secondly, I think that your life can be more and more a life of intercession. Jesus’ suffering is for all people. He came to bring all people closer to His Father. One of the greatest vocations we as Christians have is to pray for others. To pray for the many people who we know as well as for the many we don’t know but of whose suffering we are aware. My sense is that you will come closer to the Lord Jesus the more you pray for others, because Jesus came for others and praying for others is entering more deeply into the mystery of His divine intercession. There are so many people who need our prayers, and to take the time to lift them up to the Lord is one of the greatest services we can perform.
Maybe you can buy a notebook in which you can write down all the people for whom you want to pray. I am sure that book will fill up very soon, and you can take that book with you in your prayer and ask the Lord to touch all the people whose names you have brought together. Doing so, you certainly will experience more fully the love of Jesus.
I think that a life of grateful prayer and a life of intercession for others will bring you the goal you seek.
There is much more to say about this, and I am quite willing to write you again when you desire that. I just hope that these few thoughts at least will point in a direction that might be helpful to you. If not, please let me know and we will try other ways.
Be sure of my fervent prayer for you. My conviction is that those who desire to come closer to the Lord will be richly rewarded. Be sure to ask the Lord to give you the gift of prayers. It is the greatest gift He wants to give.”
Sincerely yours, Henri”
Henri Nouwen in Love, Henri: Letters on the Spiritual Life (New York: Convergent, 2016) in his letter dated 3 February 1983.
If you have it good and feel like you enjoy a wonderful life, then this post is for you. Henri says live a life of grateful prayer and intercession. God will take you deeper…to unknown depths.
Don’t think for one minute that the good place you find yourself came from your doing or diligence. Cultivate gratitude and grateful prayer, and add to that, praying for others.
We are all in this thing called life together. It’s hard. Really hard. So for all God’s gifts, let us give thanks, and for those around us, let us offer up fervent prayers as gifts for others.