The following is an excerpt on the importance of birthdays from Here and Now by Henri J. M. Nouwen. This post can also be found in You Are The Beloved: Daily Meditations For Spiritual Living:

Birthdays need to be celebrated. I think it is more important to celebrate a birthday than a successful exam, promotion, or a victory. Because to celebrate a birthday means to say to someone: “Thank you for being you.” Celebrating a birthday is exalting life and being glad for it. On a birthday we do not say: “Thanks for what you did, said, or accomplished.” No, we say: “Thank you for being born and being among us.”

On birthdays we celebrate the present. We do not complain about what happened or speculate about what will happen, but we list someone up and let everyone say: “We love you.”

To purchase You Are The Beloved: Daily Meditations For Spiritual Living, click here.

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