Sep 2015 The Road to Daybreak A Spiritual Journey by Henri J M Nouwen

Continue from Pruning Jesus said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, to make it bear even more" (John 15:1-2). These words in today's Gospel open a new perspective on suffering for me. Pruning helps trees to bear more fruit. Even when I bear fruit, even when I do things for God's kingdom, even when people express gratitude for coming to know Jesus through me, I need a lot more pruning. Many unnecessary branches and twigs prevent the vine from bearing all the fruit it can. They have to be clipped off. This is a painful process, all the more so because I do not always know that they are unnecessary. They often seem beautiful, charming, and very alive. But they need to be cut away so that more fruit can grow. It helps me to think about painful rejections, moments of loneliness, feelings of inner darkness and despair, and lack of support and human affection as God's pruning. I am aware that I might have settled too soon for the few fruits that I can recognize in my life. I might say, "Well, I am doing some good here and there, and I should be grateful for the content with the little good I do." But that might be false modesty and even a form of spiritual laziness. God calls me to do more. God wants to prune me. A pruned vine does not look beautiful, but during harvest time it produces much fruit. The great challenge is to continue to recognize God's pruning hand in my life. Then I can avoid resentment and depression and become even more grateful that I am called upon to bear even more fruit than I thought I could. Suffering then becomes a way of purification and allows me to rejoice in its fruits with deep gratitude and without price. Brought Together this afternoon Nathan and I went to Reims for a long weekend. The plan to spend a few quiet days together away from it all came up when Nathan and I realized that our time in Trosly would soon be over. On May 12 I am leaving on a six-week trip to the United States, Canada, and England, and after that we both have only a few weeks left before we conclude our time in France. Friendship does not grow strong and deep when you do not give it the time and attention it deserves. My friendship with Nathan has been one of the most sustaining and nurturing aspects of my stay at Trosly. The great joy of our friendship is that we both deeply feel that it is Jesus who has brought us together so that we would be able to help each other to grow closer to him. Therefore, we want to spend time together in prayer and silence acknowledging that the love we feel for each other is a love that is not of our own making. So here we are in Reims in the convent of the Sisters of St Claire. It is a space filled with silence, prayer, and contemplation. Through the window of my room I see in the distance the majestic Cathedral of Notre Dame rising up in the centre of the city. Tomorrow we will both see it and pray there. Thank you, Lord, for the grace of your love, for the grace of friendship, and for the grace of beauty. Amen. The Cathedral and the Prayer Room In the convent where we are staying there is a small prayer room. It is decorated with a simple glass window representing the burning bush, a wooden pillar in which a small tabernacle is carved, some prayer stools and benches, and some small lamps attached to the bamboo-covered walls. Nathan and I prayed our psalms there and spent sometime in silence. It felt very peaceful and restful. Hardly any sounds could be heard. In the afternoon we went to downtown Reims to visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Coming from the small prayer chapel into the majestic nave of the cathedral felt lke touching the two extremes of the presence of God in our world. God's hiddenness and God's splendour, God's smallness and God's majesty, God's silence and God's creative word, God's humility and God's triumphant glory. Here in this sacred space, built in the thirteenth century, the Saint-King Louis was consecrated (1226), Jeanne d'Arc attended the coronation of Charles VII (1429), Charles X was crowned (1825), and Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer celebrated the reconciliation between the French and the Germans (1962). So many emotions and feelings, so many tragic and joyous events, so many ugly and beautiful memories, so much pride and so much faith, so much desire for power and so much simple faith.

- To Be Continued - © Copyright Shalom 2015. All rights reserved.