File 32 - Nouwen speaking at a symposium on human sexuality

3 audio cassettes

File consists of three audio cassettes of Nouwen speaking at a symposium on human sexuality and at a talk hosted by a community of Sisters.

SR2011 50 01: Nouwen giving a talk titled "Celibacy" at a human sexuality symposium. Nouwen mentions that a nun named Sister Margaret is also present at the talk, to participate in the discussion.
Nouwen breaks down his talk into parts: first, what he calls the "sexual illusion," in which sex promises a lot, but often delivers little; what it means to have a personal, spiritual relationship; and how sexuality can be seen in terms of a personal, spiritual relationship.
He then breaks these three parts down further: celibacy is a reality that every human has to deal with; certain people and groups give celibacy visibility; and that celibacy is not just abstaining from sexual behaviour.
We feel a sense of incompleteness and brokenness, and loneliness; the sexual urge (one of the deepest of the human urges) often presents itself as a way to gain intimacy, fulfillment, unity, and completeness. Yet Nouwen argues that the sexual illusion is that somewhere, there is a person who can take away this brokenness and the "deep seated feeling of not being whole." If we do not recognize it as an illusion, we view the other person as someone who "should" fulfill our needs and fix our brokenness, something which they cannot be expected to do and are not capable of doing.
After the formal talk, Nouwen takes questions from the audience.

SR2011 50 02: Nouwen giving a talk titled "What is Prayer?" hosted by a community of sisters. SR2011 50 02 v1 features the first part of the talk and SR2011 50 02 v2 features the second part of the talk.

Title based on contents of the file
Sound quality varies: some areas are squeaky.
Digitized June 16, 2011.
Access copy (2) available in Research Collection fonds Access Copies, Sound Recording Series, box 32.

Revised by T Wong, 8 September 2021