Surrender and Complete Trust

Sometimes I read something that is so moving to me that I cannot really put into words what I am feeling.  So, why try?  Here is the passage that moved me today:

“Moving from teaching university students to living with mentally handicapped people was, for me at least, a step toward the platform where the father embraces his kneeling son.  It is the place of light, the place of truth, the place of love.  It is the place where I so much want to be, but am so fearful of being.  It is the place where I will receive all I desire, all that I ever hoped for, all that I will ever need, but it is also the place where I have to let go of all I most want to hold on to.  It is the place that confronts me with the fact that truly accepting love, forgiveness, and healing is often much harder than giving it.  It is the place beyond earning, deserving, and rewarding.  It is the place of surrender and complete trust.” 

From “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Henri J. M. Nouwen.  The father and son, the platform, the light, all refer to a a painting by Rembrandt depicting a pivotal scene in the story about a son who returns home after squandering his father’s fortune.  The father receives his younger son back with open arms and a joyous heart.