house of love

"How can we live in the midst of a world marked by fear, hatred, and violence, and not be destroyed by it? When Jesus prays to his Father for his disciples he responds to this question by saying,

'I am not asking you to remove them from the world, but to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.' John 17:15-16

To live in this world without belonging to the world summarizes the essence of the spiritual life. The spiritual life keeps us aware that our true house is not the house of fear, in which the powers of hatred and violence rule, but the house of love, where God resides. Hardly a day passes in our lives without our experience of inner and outer fears, anxieties, apprehensions, and preoccupations. These dark powers have pervaded every part of our world to such a degree that we can never fully escape them. Still it is possible not to belong to these powers, not to build our dwelling place among them, but to choose the house of love as our home. The choice is not made just once and for all, but by living a spiritual life; praying at all times and breathing God's breath. Through the spiritual life we gradually move from the house of fear to the house of love."
Henri Nouwen, Behold the Beauty of the Lord