Quote:
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"Our life is a short time in expectation, a time in which sadness with joy kiss each other at every moment. There is a quality of sadness that pervades all the moments of our life. It seems that there is no such things as a clear cut pure joy, but that even in the most happy moments of our existence we sense a tinge of sadness. In ever satisfaction, there is an awareness of limitations. In every success, there is the fear of jealousy. Behind every smile there is a tear. In every embrace there is loneliness. In every friendship, distance. And in all forms of light, there is the knowledge of surrounding darkness... But this intimate experience in which every bit of life is touched by a bit of death can point us beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy that no one shall take way from us.
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~ Henri Nouwen
I'm astounded by how close Nouwen comes to Tolkien. Maybe I shouldn't be; they do partake of the same spirituality - which means the same view of reality.