Henri Nouwen Society - Daily Meditation
Friday May 9, 2014

The Cup of Life

When the mother of James and John asks Jesus to give her sons a special place in his Kingdom, Jesus responds,  "Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?"  (Matthew 20:22).   "Can we drink the cup?" is the most challenging and radical question we can ask ourselves.  The cup is the cup of life, full of sorrows and joys.  Can we hold our cups and claim them as our own?  Can we lift our cups to offer  blessings to others, and can we drink our cups to the bottom as cups that bring us salvation?

Keeping this question alive in us is one of the most demanding spiritual exercises we can practice.

- Henri J. M. Nouwen  
Comment on this Daily Meditation.
 
Visit our website for inspiration, resources, news, events, community.
Text excerpts taken from Bread for the Journey, by Henri J.M. Nouwen, �1997 HarperSanFrancisco. All Scripture from The Jerusalem Bible �1966, 1967, and 1968 Darton, Longman & Todd and Doubleday & Co. Inc. Photo by V. Dobson.