Quote of the Day

"What if the events of our history are molding us as a sculptor molds his clay, and if it is only in a careful obedience to these molding hands that we can discover our real vocation and become mature people? What if all the unexpected interruptions are in fact invitation to give up old-fashioned and out-moded styles of living and are opening up new unexplored areas of experience? And finally: WHAT IF our history does not prove to be a blind impersonal sequence of events over which we have no control, but rather reveals to us a guiding hand pointing to a personal encounter in which all our hopes and aspirations will reach their fulfillment? Then our life would indeed be different, because then fate becomes opportunity, wounds a warning, and paralysis an invitation to search for deeper sources of vitality."

- Henri Nouwen

Photo: Our hotel room window, looking out into an alleyway. Venice, Italy. April 2011.