Writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us. The writing itself reveals to us what is alive in us. The deepest satisfaction of writing is precisely that it opens up new spaces within us of which we were not aware before we started to write.

Henri Nouwen
Reflections on Theological Education from Seeds of Hope

Wow ... I haven't written one of these since Thanksgiving. No, duh, I hear many of you saying. I know many of you have checked this page daily, then weekly, then maybe monthly and are on the verge of giving up, thinking I've abandoned the idea of devotionals all together. I almost did.

Just a few weeks ago I seriously contemplated pulling this entire section and tossing it into the scrap heap of failed ideas. Then I took a vacation ... and gained a new perspective on not just the devotionals, but Whosoever as a whole.

While on vacation I visited a bookstore and ran into a reader of Henri Nouwen's material called Seeds of Hope. Nouwen was a Catholic priest who taught at Yale and Harvard but spent the final years of his life helping people with mental disabilities. This book, and his inspirational writing, has renewed my spirit.

When I read the passage quoted above I nearly burst into tears. Writing has always been my first, and true, love. When I was kid I remember the best moments of my life were spent filling blank pieces of paper with my thoughts, my poems, my stories and my songs. Even today I am never found without a pen and something to write on. But, as we often do with those we love, I took writing for granted. It took Nouwen, and his wonderful insight, to remind me of my first and special love for writing, and the reason that I feel in love with it. It's "the process in which we discover what lives in us." Often I am so surprised by my writing. I set out to write something and end up writing something totally different, and it's so much better than I had first imagined. I learn so much about myself by writing. I find out what is alive in me.

I have renewed my dedication to writing daily ... to finding out what lives in me. I challenge each of you to do the same. Write, even if you think you can't. Just put your feelings, your thoughts, your life, on paper. You don't ever have to show it to anyone ... it can be an exercise between you and God. Find out what lives in you, then share that life with those around you. Open up the deep spaces within yourself, those areas that house God's love and grace just waiting to get out!

Blessings,
Candace