Bible connection
So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
All about Henri Nouwen (1932-1996)
Nouwen was born on January 24, 1932 in Nijkirk, Holland. He became widely respected internationally as a pastor and professor of theology and psychology. Nouwen experienced a sheltered and strongly Catholic upbringing. Even as child he felt called to become a priest. Before his ordination in 1957, he studied theology at the Minor Seminary in Apeldoorn and then the Major Seminary in Rijenburg. Afterwards, he went on to study psychology at the Catholic University of Nijmegan.
Nouwen developed a strong interest in the integration of psychology and theology. He moved to the United States in 1964 to study at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. While in the United States, he became interested in the civil rights movement and joined Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1968 march from Selma to Montgomery. He also spent two years teaching clinical psychology courses at the University of Notre Dame before returning, in 1968, to the Netherlands, where he worked at the Amsterdam Joint Pastoral Institute and the Catholic Theological Institute of Utrecht. In 1971 Nouwen again travelled to the United States, this time responding to an invitation to teach at Yale Divinity School.
- 1972 – The Wounded Healer.
In 1974, Nouwen spent seven months living, worshiping, and working alongside the Trappist monks in the Abbey of the Genesee in Piffard, New York.
- 1975 – Reaching Out
- 1976 – The Genesee Diary
He went on to explore various other groups, teaching positions, and missions in a desire to discover where his calling was leading him.
- 1981 – The Way of the Heart
This search included work with Maryknoll missionaries in Peru and Bolivia.
- 1983 – Gracias!: A Latin American Journal
His search also led to his involvement with L’Arche, a movement of communities for the disabled, first in France. Nouwen eventually moved to L’Arche Daybreak near Toronto, Canada in 1986, where he lived for the rest of his life.
- 1989 – In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership
- 1992 – Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World
- 1992 – The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming
- 1994 – Here and Now: Living in the Spirit
He died on September 21, 1996 while travelling through his homeland, Holland. During his life Henri Nouwen authored more than forty books, which have sold more than seven million copies and have been translated into over twenty languages.
Henri’s transparency, intelligence and faith brought him many readers. He has led many of us to deeply value solitude and contemplative practices. In this excerpt from The Way of the Heart Henri reflects on the call to solitude that led the Desert Fathers and Mothers (and us, still today) to understand their gifts by fleeing the shipwreck of the society of their day:
Our society is not a community radiant with the love of Christ, but a dangerous network of domination and manipulation in which we can easily get entangled and lose our soul. The basic question is whether we ministers of Jesus Christ have not already been so deeply molded by the seductive powers of our dark world that we have become blind to our own and other people’s fatal state and have lost the power and motivation to swim for our lives.
Quotes:
“As soon as we are alone…inner chaos opens up in us. This chaos can be so disturbing and so confusing that we can hardly wait to get busy again. Entering a private room and shutting the door, therefore, does not mean that we immediately shut out all our inner doubts, anxieties, fears, bad memories, unresolved conflicts, angry feelings and impulsive desires. On the contrary, when we have removed our outer distraction, we often find that our inner distraction manifest themselves to us in full force. We often use the outer distractions to shield ourselves from the interior noises. This makes the discipline of solitude all the more important.” ― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Making All Things New and Other Classics
“Aren’t you, like me, hoping that some person, thing, or event will come along to give you that final feeling of inner well-being you desire? Don’t you often hope: ‘May this book, idea, course, trip, job, country or relationship fulfill my deepest desire.’ But as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment you will go on running helter-skelter, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied. You know that this is the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy, but at the same time makes us wonder whether we are getting anywhere in the long run. This is the way to spiritual exhaustion and burn-out. This is the way to spiritual death.” ― Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World
“Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.” ― Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life
“For most of my life I have struggled to find God, to know God, to love God. I have tried hard to follow the guidelines of the spiritual life—pray always, work for others, read the Scriptures—and to avoid the many temptations to dissipate myself. I have failed many times but always tried again, even when I was close to despair.
Now I wonder whether I have sufficiently realized that during all this time God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me. The question is not “How am I to find God?” but “How am I to let myself be found by him?” The question is not “How am I to know God?” but “How am I to let myself be known by God?” And, finally, the question is not “How am I to love God?” but “How am I to let myself be loved by God?” God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home.” ― The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming
More
The Henri Nouwen Society can tell you everything: [link]
His books in chronological order with descriptions [link]
On Nouwen’s struggles with celibacy and orientation: [link] [link]
What do we do with this?
Nouwen is famous for encouraging self-reliant and denial-ridden Christians to accept their neediness and self-delusion. He taught that healers are wounded, like Jesus.
Are you avoiding solitude because your outer distractions are helping you avoid your inner turmoil and the struggle of spiritual development? Probably. We hope your church is devoted to going deep with God. If so, they’ll be dealing with many people who are determined to stay shallow. Let God pull you under. Be receptive to being loved. Don’t get stuck avoiding the dreadful thought that you don’t love enough or are not loved well enough.