Yes, there are things that need to be done when I retire (clean out the shed, sort out things in the basement storage closets, get the yard back into shape), but job one on the to-do list is reading. Now, it will take some relearning to read like a normal person. Imagine reading without a sermon deadline! Imagine reading without looking for a good story to steal! Imagine reading without a pen in hand so that I can zoom in on what was important on that page (and remember where that page was!). Let me be honest—it is going to be an odd feeling at first, all booked up, but no sermon to write. And yet, I am sure I will get used to it. As for other changes that will feel ever so odd, I will never get used to them! But books, well, that is a different story. 

But before you do anything strenuous (and reading and thinking can be very strenuous), it is always wise to stretch. So, here are five wise quotes that I am sure will stretch your mind so that you can be ready to engage with today’s book choice. Our quotes of the day are:

  • “Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” — P.J. O’Rourke
  • “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” ― Oscar Wilde
  • “Books and doors are the same thing. You open them, and you go through into another world.” – Jeanette Winterson
  • “A room without books is like a body without a soul.” – Cicero
  • “Many a book is like a key to unknown chambers within the castle of one’s own self.” – Franz Kafka

Now, you are ready to go. All you need now is a good book to think about!

 

Book Four:

Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith
Henri Nouwen, Michael Christensen and Rebecca Laird (Harper One, New York)


The Author: Henri Nouwen died in 1996. During his life, he wrote over 40 books that sold millions of copies. I am embarrassed to say I didn’t read any of them, even though several good friends urged me to do so (I did glance through a few, however, so I am not completely culturally illiterate). Nouwen led a remarkable life. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1957. He earned his degrees from Nijmegen University in the Netherlands, taught at Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard. He was a Trappist monk at the Abbey of the Genesee, was a Maryknoll missionary in Latin America and was the pastor of L’Arche Daybreak (a community comprised of people with intellectual disabilities living together with their caregivers). Shortly after his death, the Henri Nouwen Society was formed as a means to carry forward Nouwen’s spiritual vision, a vision that is also advanced by the Nouwen Legacy Trust. In association with that Trust, Michael Christensen (one of Nouwen’s longtime students) and Rebecca Laird (his long-time editor) have searched through Nouwen’s coursework, sermons, journals, and unpublished writings to create this work on the spiritual life. On the very first page of Spiritual Direction, we read:

“Technically, Henri Nouwen did not write this book, yet the words and wisdom are his. The book in your hands is a posthumous book of spiritual direction by Henri Nouwen himself, developed by the editors as we identified strands of timeless wisdom and personal guidance in his many sermons, articles, journal records, class lecture notes, unpublished manuscripts and published writings, and adapted the core material for practical use.”

So, strictly speaking, I am breaking my promise to you. Book four is not by Nouwen. But that is small potatoes compared to my next true confession. I’ve also read some of it. “Read” might be strong, but I most certainly perused it to see if it would be appropriate to use in our latest new elder training class. I was looking for classic books to help our new elders maintain a healthy spiritual core (and not just be church business people). I loved what I saw in this book and so we did use it, but I didn’t feel like I saw enough. Hence, the reason I am choosing it as one of my five. But as the Lay’s Potato chip commercial says, “No one can eat just one.” And the fact is, there are three books in this series; and if you are in for one, you might as well be in for them all. Therefore, I will also be reading (but maybe not before the end of 2026), Spiritual Formation (2010) and Discernment (2013). And here’s the great part about these books. The way they are written, the questions they ask, the way they address topics, you begin to feel that Nouwen himself is acting as your spiritual director. And since I am in a new time in my life, I could probably use a good spiritual director to help me chart a new spirituality for a new day.


The Book’s Big Idea: The goal of a spiritual life is to live each day in greater awareness of God’s presence, beauty and love. To do that, we need to ask ourselves a handful of key questions and live out those answers in our lives in light of God’s calling. The questions are the main topics of the book:

  • Who am I?
  • Where have I been and where am I going?
  • What is prayer?
  • Who is God for me?
  • How can I hear God’s Word?
  • Where do I belong?
  • How can I be of service?

But as with all spiritual directors, the questions are important, but they are not the main thing. At the end of every chapter there are “Going Deeper Exercises” that drive these points home. And while none of these exercises are innovative, they are all deeply and profoundly meaningful if you pour your heart into them (some examples used in Spiritual Direction are journaling, reflection, prayer, contemplation, silence and others). 


Some Quotes from the Book:

  • “It is by being awake to God in us that we can increasingly see God in the world around us.”
  • “Our lives are not problems to be solved but journeys to be taken with Jesus as our friend and finest guide.”
  • “The goal of spiritual direction is spiritual formation—the ever-increasing capacity to live a spiritual life from the heart. A spiritual life cannot be formed without discipline, practice, and accountability.”
  • “The sculptor responded: ‘I knew there was a lion in the marble because, before I saw the lion in the marble, I saw him in my own heart. The secret is that it was the lion in my heart that recognized the lion in the marble.’ The art of sculpture is, first of all, the art of seeing; and discipline is the way to make visible what has been seen. Spiritual disciplines are the skills and techniques by which we begin to see the image of God in our heart. Spiritual formation is the careful attentiveness to the work of God, our master sculpture, as we submit to the gradual chipping away of all that that is not God, until the inner lion is revealed.”


A Great Editorial Review from Jeff Imbach (president, Henri Nouwen Society of Canada):

“Spiritual Direction is a powerfully evocative book, beautifully weaving together original material from Henri Nouwen with the authors’ own creative insights. Both the structure of the book and the writing take us on a journey that is both fresh and profoundly helpful. It is uniquely positioned to be both a powerful addition to the literature on spiritual direction and a beautiful reflection on the spiritual life for all people. Rebecca and Michael offer a wonderful blend of scholarship, pastoral care, and good writing!” 


Why You Should Read this Book with Me: In my earlier skimming, I stumbled upon three great stories (The Lion in the Marble, The Fugitive and the Rabbi, and The Three Monks on an Island) that made the whole book worth reading (skimming). I am going to read on to see if there are still other stories to discover and to listen carefully to the ones I have read, but have not yet contemplated deeply enough. 


If you’re not into Spiritual Direction, what else can I recommend? 

One of my friends made an impassioned appeal to me to read Nouwen’s the Return of the Prodigal Son in which Nouwen shines a beautiful light on the themes of homecoming, redemption and acceptance (1994, 151 pages); The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society (1979, 100 pages) and the highly recommended, The Way of the Heart: Connecting with God through Prayer, Wisdom and Silence (2003, 112 pages). I think I would also be willing to try Spiritual Formation (2015, 192 pages) and Discernment (2015, 256 pages) both written by Michael Christensen and Rebecca Laird from Nouwen’s notes. I am especially interested to see what Nouwen says about discernment. I am always wondering if I need more of a mystical aspect to my faith. Maybe I will find my answer in Nouwen.


Last Words: 

If you read enough reviews of his books, you will stumble upon a very common comment: As you are reading, you will get the sense that Henri is right there talking to you. That’s a pretty spectacular quality to have as a spiritual director and pastor. You will also see a comment or two about how almost every other page has something profound for the mind and equally profound for the soul. And he never misses the heart either. When a world-renowned writer speaks to you personally and on so many different levels, well, you just have to come and listen.

Thanks for considering reading Nouwen and, as always, thanks for reading this post.