When I need to stay in control (Henri Nouwen)

   When we are willing to look at things through God’s eyes, we soon see that what is happening in [the world’s trouble spots] is not so far away from what is happening in our own hearts.  As soon as our own safety is threatened we grab for the first stick or gun available and say that our survival is what really counts, even when thousands of others are not going to make it.

   I know my sticks and guns!  Sometimes it is a friend with more influence than I, sometimes it is money or a degree, sometimes it is a little talent that others don’t have, and sometimes it is a special knowledge, or a hidden memory, or even a cold stare… and I will grab it quickly without much hesitation when I need to stay in control.  Before I fully realize it I have pushed my friends away, perhaps wounding them in the process.

   God looks and weeps because whenever we use power to give us a sense of ourselves, we separate ourselves from God and each other, and our lives become diabolic, in the literal meaning of the word:  divisive.

--Henri Nouwen, Finding My Way Home

Image source:  https://ivemovedon.com/parental-alienation-after-divorce-dont-let-your-kids-pay-the-price/
(Reposted with image modification.)