onehouse

Book 20: Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith

Book 20: Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith by Henri Nouwen with Michael J. Christensen and Rebecca J. Laird.

This was the required reading for the Henri Nouwen retreat I attended a few weeks ago. It is a compilation of writings by Nouwen by two other writers centred around the theme of spiritual direction. I've read a lot of Nouwen's books and was able to skim through this one fairly quickly. I didn't pick up a whole lot that was new although it was good to be reminded of some of Nouwen's themes.

I actually didn't like the way that some of the book was laid out.However, as I listened to the some of the other attendees discuss the weekend during mealtimes, I realized that many of them had never heard of Nouwen and were not overly familiar with contemplative practices. They were excited about the content and wanted to investigate more of his writing. I think this is a good introduction for people who are used to a different form of spiritual pilgrimage especially those from the evangelical tradition. I was encouraged to hear an openness - a cautionary excitement towards incorporating these kind of practices that I do not recall hearing a decade ago when a lot of this was swept under the rug as a useless, possibly dirty, thing. And I was happy to see an interest in  Nouwen before all the "Ten Easy steps to having a Cool Contemplative Congregation!*" books start coming out. (*Exclamation point, easy and alliteration guaranteed to be included.)

Someone mentioned The Genesee Diary during the weekend as a more narrative approach. It was a favorite for many of us that had already experienced Nouwen's work and we couldn't recommend it highly enough.

More posts that reference Genesee:

May 7, 2004 - Introduction.
May 21, 2004 - Three Oranges.
May 25, 2004 - Tower of Babel
May 31, 2004 - One Flower.
August 31, 2004 - Sea Captains.
September 30, 2004 - Walk in the middle.

Inhabiting questions.

Try all you like, you cannot make "Jesus is the answer" appear anywhere in the Bible or any other holy book. Part of the human quest may be a search for answers, but many other parts of our transformation involve learning to inhabit questions. As with the letter to the young adult in the previous entry, we  do a disservice to people when we try to walk them too quickly towards an answer because it makes us feel more comfortable. This morning I read about the misguided help of Job's friends in Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith:

Thus, to receive spiritual help in time of need requires, first of all, not to deny but to affirm the search. Painful questions must be raised, faced, and then lived. This means that we must constantly avoid the temptation of offering or accepting simple answers, to be easy defenders of God, the Church, the tradition, or whatever we feel called to defend. Experience suggests that such glib apologies animate hostility and anger, and finally a growing alienation from whom we are trying to defend. Be careful when life's questions swirl around you in times of pain. Beware of easy answers or guarantees. Seek the companionship of others who will befriend you and listen as you live the questions of your life. (emphasis mine)

Any spiritual guide who anxiously avoids the painful search and nervously fills the gap created by unanswerable questions should be viewed with caution. When seeking guidance, we are susceptible to a superficial search for easy answers and shallow meaning. Living into a new way of self-understanding and spiritual depth is aided by having a sturdy spiritual companion or soul friend. The best guides are willing to be silent yet present, and are comfortable with unknowing. God's Spirit is ultimately the sole source of spiritual guidance, comfort, and knowing.