Item 1638 - A self-emptied heart: the disciplines of spiritual formation

3 p. of textual records

This item is a three page article by Henri Nouwen entitled, ‘A Self-Emptied Heart: The Disciplines of spiritual formation’, published in Sojourners, Vol. 10, No. 8, August , 1981, pp. 20 – 22. This is part three of a three part series. Nouwen begins this article by stating that discipleship requires discipline. He identifies three disciplines in particular: 1) the discipline of the church – ‘by which we remain in touch with the true story of God in history. Nouwen identifies the importance of the church community ,’ The attention to the presence of Christ in our own personal story can only remain free from self-deception when we remain attentive to the presence of Christ in the daily life of the church’. 2) The discipline of the book – here Nouwen emphasizes the necessity of reading the scriptures deeply and meditatively. 3) The discipline of the heart – ‘The discipline of the heart is the discipline of personal prayer which…leads us not just to our own heart, but to the heart of God’. Nouwen concludes this series of three articles, ‘We are called to follow Christ on his downwardly mobile road, tempted to choose the broad path of success, notoriety, and influence, and challenged to subject ourselves to spiritual disciplines in order to gradually conform to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ’.

Reference copy available in Articles by Nouwen Access Copy Box 2.

Item is 3 of a series of 3 articles. See Published works series, items 1636 and 1637.
This item contains material used in an article entitled 'Spiritual Direction' in Reflection, Jan 1981, pp 7-8. See Box 295, item 1634.

Published in Sojourners 10, no. 8 (August 1981): 20-22.

Added by L Joson ,9 November 2017
Revised by L Joson, 22 June 2018