As peacemakers we must resist resolutely all the powers of war and destruction and proclaim that peace is the divine gift offered to all who affirm life.

As peacemakers we must resist resolutely all the powers of war and destruction and proclaim that peace is the divine gift offered to all who affirm life.

Henry J. M. Nouwen

Peace Is the Divine Gift

Topic: Global Peace & Development

The word that I want to make central in these reflections on the daily life of the peacemaker is the word “resistance.” As peacemakers we must resist resolutely all the powers of war and destruction and proclaim that peace is the divine gift offered to all who affirm life. Resistance means saying “No” to all the forces of death wherever they may be and, as a corollary, saying a clear “Yes” to all of life in whatever form we encounter it.

Henry J. M. Nouwen

Christianity

Nouwen, Henri J. M., and John Dear. The Road to Peace: Writings on Peace and Justice. Orbis Books, 2003.

Henry J. M. Nouwen

Theme: Peace

Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Road to Peace

Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen (January 24, 1932 – September 21, 1996) was a Dutch Catholic priest and writer who authored 40 books on the spiritual life.

Additional Henri Nouwen Quotes

“Prayer is not a pious decoration of life but the breath of human existence.”

—Henri Nouwen [The Wounded Healer (1972)].

“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 Nouwen [Out of Solitude].

Peace Is the Divine Gift

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