from one old soul to another

when i left my last job at the non-profit my wise friend gave me his own copy of his favorite Henri Nouwen book saying, "Books are like old friends, and I want you to have this one." the book was Cry for Mercy. All you grad school friends that read this will remember that our program seemed dedicated to two main people, our own Adam and Eve so to speak. everything we learned seemed to stem from these two individuals: "the great saint" henri nouwen, and the mysterious fran white.

at any rate, i'm just now beginning the book mentioned above. i'm leaving for central america on wednesday for a research team-thing i'm a part of so reading material is priority upon preparation. the book is a book of prayers written while visiting a monastery. the first portion begins with this tid bit of thought:

There is so much fear in us. Fear of people, fear of God and much raw, undefined, free-floating anxiety. I wonder if fear is not our main obstsacle to prayer. When we enter in the presence of God and start to sense that huge reservoir of fear in us, we want to run away into the many distractions which our busy world offers us so abundantly. But we should not be afraid of our fears. We can confront them, give words to them and lead them into the presence of him who says: "Do not be afraid, it is I." Our inclination is to show our Lord only what we feel comfortable with. But the more we dare to reveal our whole trembling self in him, the more we will be able to sense that his love, which is perfect love, casts out all our fears.

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little afraid about what's going on in the middle east right now. My great friend amanda said it's something we should be praying hard about. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that, but I have been ever since we spoke. God help us.