I was given You are The Beloved, as a gift by my colleagues in Pastoral and Spiritual Care (Fieldhead), whilst serving as a NHS Chaplain.
I use it every other year, as a daily focus for reflection and prayer.
I have a great respect for the work and the words of Henri Nouwen, whom I first encountered with The Return of the Prodigal Son, many years ago.
Sometimes the words of another, more wise disciple are not only what you are looking for, maybe needing to hear, but also what you truly believe others need to hear and know, for themselves.
For March 21st,
The voice of despair says, “I sin over and over again. After endless promises to myself and others to do better next time, I find myself back again in the old dark places. Forget about trying to change. I have tried for years. It didn’t work and it never will work. It is better that I get out of people’s way, be forgotten, no longer around, dead.”
This strangely attractive voice takes all uncertainties away and puts an end to the struggle. It speaks unambiguously for the darkness and offers a clear-cut negative identity.
But Jesus came to open my ears to another voice that says, “I am your God, I have moulded you with my own hands, and I love what I have made. I love you with a love that has no limits, because I love you as I am loved. Do not run away from me. Come back to me – not once, not twice, but always again. You are my child. … I am your God – the God of mercy and compassion, the God of pardon and love, the God of tenderness and care. Please do not say that I have given up on you, that I cannot stand you anymore, that there is no way back. It is not true. I so much want you to be with me. I so much want you to be close to me. I know all your thoughts. I hear all your words. I see all your actions. And I love you because you are beautiful, made in my own image, an expression of my most intimate love.
Do not judge yourself. Do not condemn yourself. Do not reject yourself. Let my love touch the deepest, most hidden corners of your heart and reveal to you your own beauty, a beauty that you have lost sight of, but that will become visible to you again in the light of my mercy. Come, come, let me wipe your tears, and let my mouth come close to your ear and say to you, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.”
Taken from,
Nouwen, Henri J.M., (2017) You Are the Beloved (p. 80), Hodder & Stoughton
And originally included in,
Nouwen, Henri J.M., (1988) The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey – March 21 pp. 157-158, Doubleday