Still one of the best, short treatments of kenotic spirituality. ( )

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 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. ( )

"On the long road it's good to have Nouwen and his divining rod. Deftly he bends toward the drop of spiritual wisdom caked in the most ordinary things." --Helen Prejean, C.S.J., author ofDead Man Walking Henry J.M. Nowuen, one of the greatest of all spiritual writers, invites us to search deeply for the well-springs that nourish true ministry in his classicThe Way of the Heart. Interweaving the solitude, silence, and prayer of the fifth-century Egyptian Desert Fathers and Mothers with our contemporary search for an authentic spirituality, The Way of the Heart not only leads us to a fuller encounter with God, but to a more creative ministry with our fellow human beings. Here is one of the most profound works from a writer known for his fresh and perceptive insights--and who stands alongside C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton as an essential Christian scholar and thinker.

he Way of the Heart. Interweaving the solitude, silence, and prayer of the fifth-century Egyptian Desert Fathers and Mothers with our contemporary search for an authentic spirituality, The Way of the Heart not only leads us to a fuller encounter with God, but to a more creative ministry with our fellow human beings. Here is one of the most profound works from a writer known for his fresh and perceptive insights—and who stands alongside C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton as an essential Christian scholar and thinker

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.