Matt Mcmanus

“Without reading the word, silence becomes stale, and without silence, the word loses its re-creative power. The word leads to silence and silence to the word. The word is born in silence, and silence is the deepest response to the word.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Reaching Out

“We are so afraid of open spaces and empty places that we occupy them with our minds even before we are there. Our worries and concerns are expressions of our inability to leave unresolved questions unresolved and open-ended situations open-ended. They make us grab any possible solution and answer that seems to fit the occasion. They reveal our intolerance of the incomprehensibility of people and events and make us look for labels or classifications to fill the emptiness with self-created illusions.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Reaching Out

“Compassion isn’t just about feeling the pain of others; it’s about bringing them in toward yourself. If we love what God loves, then, in compassion, margins get erased. “Be compassionate as God is compassionate,” means the dismantling of barriers that exclude.”
― Gregory Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion

“I believe that God protects me from nothing but sustains me in everything.”
― Gregory Boyle, Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship