Appropriately Aknowledging the Abyss

“There is a deep hole in your being, like an abyss. You will never succeed in filling that hole, because your needs are inexhaustible. You have to work around it so that gradually the abyss closes.

Since the hole is so enormous and your anguish so deep, you will always be tempted to flee from it. There are two extremes to avoid: being completely absorbed in your pain and being distracted by so many things that you stay far away from the wound you want to heal.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen

The Inner Voice of Love

I love the above quote, written by a theologian in the middle of his own despair and depression…how he aknowledges the tension of needing to see the pain and deal with it and balances that with the need to not be consumed by it. So often, it seems that it is much easier to swing to one extreme or the other.

Saw this video which connects with some of the dangers of only “looking on the bright side” which many have been taught, and in many ways, pervades our society.

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