The Way of the Heart

It’s hard to give anything but a five star rating to Nouwen. Sometimes I suspect the man had God ghost write his books. This one, a short introduction to the Desert Fathers and Mothers, the Abbas and Ammas, meditates on silence and contemplation. Ministers, he writes, tend to be doers, caught up in parish committees and ministries of caring. (I found his constant reference to ministers puzzling. Is this written for clerics? But then again, all Christians are called to be ministers.) We forget the need for silence, alone time with God. The Desert Fathers spent years in silence with God. But that did not make them alone or apart from the world. It made them more open and compassionate with those who came to visit them. Silence and show more contemplation, while they are fostered by spiritual practices of prayer and meditation, are less a state of mind to engage in at times and more a state of being to live at all times. Nouwen is always an inspiration. show less

Nouwen offers some great insights into the solitude, silence, and unceasing prayer of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, though his selection of material can be a little heavy handed to the point of impracticality. His point to quiet the wordiness and the intellectualism of the mind and meet God with the heart was tell taken.

It's funny. Sometimes a book will impact you profoundly and other times, meh. And it's often where you are in life that determines a books impact more than the book itself, at least that's how I feel about this one. The book in some ways is similar to Nouwen's In the Name of Jesus - both books center on three disciplines, written for ministers, with great reasons to pursue them. This was a good book and worth reading and being reminded of certain things I believe. It's kinda like a I-want-to-move-in-this-direction-kind-of book. But overall I'd recommend In the Name of Jesus over it.

The thing that did surprise me is how contemporary Nouwen sounds when he describes the world - fear of war, destruction, the works... basically the same show more stuff people are saying today.

As an aside - I read an old version before the edits and revisions, I think, so there were some differences. show less

Solitude shows us the way to let our behavior be shaped not by the compulsions of the world but by our new ind, the mind of Christ. Silence prevents us from being suffocated by our wordy world and teaches us to speak in the Word of God. Henri Nouwen invites us to search deeply for the well-springs that nourish true ministry by looking to the example of the 5th century Egyptian Desert Fathers and Mothers. Their experience in the desert taught them that spiritual survival was possible only if they found a place in their lives for solitude, silence and prayer.

A second quick read after picking it up at the library for my wife. Short, simple, and clear book that has depth when applied. This second read through just clarified my notes from the first read, and helped me adapt my behaviors to work on habits towards silent solitude in prayer that my heart can be open to God and the Holy Spirit.

Dit boek helpt om uit de 'regelmodus' te stappen en vanuit bezieling naar het werk te kijken. Het is nog steeds actueel al is het geschreven voor de eeuwwisseling.

A delightful book merging Ancient with Contemporary spirituality through the lens of the Desert Mothers and Fathers. Spirituality in this sense is meant to bring about character transformation. Please note this is best read as a springboard to their wisdom and not the expurgated version.