“God is continually inviting us to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life (Ps. 27:4). The Lord wants to be our home.”
“You are the place where God chose to dwell.”
–Henri Nouwen

Before we dive in this week, I’d like to say a few words about Henri Nouwen. You may have noticed that I quote him quite a bit as we walk together along this Emmaus way. I have found his work to be deeply healing for my own life, and that’s why I include his words so frequently here.

Henri was a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, psychologist, and author who unexpectedly died in 1996 at age 64. He studied psychology in addition to theology in order to bridge the gap he perceived between the human side of faith and its more heady, theological side. In doing so, and by being transparent about his own spiritual and emotional struggles, his language around the absolute truth of our belovedness in God continues to craft secure space for us to do our own inner work, which, in turn, positively contributes to our transformation into Christlikeness.

As we continue to explore slowing as a practice, I ask you to consider both of Henri’s quotes above. Taken together, they communicate a mutual indwelling: God invites us to dwell and make our home in God, and at the same time God has already chosen to dwell in us. When combined with my all-time favorite Nouwen quote that asks us “…to allow God, who is only love, to be the source as well as the goal of all we say and do,” we can see a reflection of the Trinitarian life in our own life with God: God dwells in us, we dwell in God, and it is the Living Love of God that is both the source and the goal of the entirety of our lives. Surely the only way we can give proper attention to this astonishing truth is to slow down and think about it on purpose. And if we do, we will be changed, because it is impossible to be aware that we dwell in Infinite Love and that Infinite Love dwells in us and NOT be changed.

Friends, what will you do with this breathtaking invitation? Will you join me in purposefully slowing down this summer to pay attention to this inexhaustible flow of Love, this life-changing mutual indwelling? Let walk together, slowly, in this jaw-dropping truth.