Item 1734 - The peace that flows from a broken heart: the quest for God

1 p. of textual records

This item is a one page article by Henri Nouwen entitled: The Peace that Flows from a Broken Heart’, published in The Catholic Leader (Australia), October 30, 1988, p. 2. This item is identified as being part 2 of a 3 part series. The Archives does not have part 3. Nouwen begin by talking of the times he prays with Adam Arnett, the severely handicapped man Nouwen helps care for. Then he writes, ‘Adam’s peace is not only a peace rooted in being but also a peace rooted in the heart’. Nouwen notes that Adam keeps telling him over and over that what makes us human is not our mind but our heart…’by heart I mean the centre of our being where God has hidden the Divine gifts of trust, hope and love’. Nouwen describes Adam’s heart as a broken heart from which his peace flows. Nouwen then goes on to say that one of the gifts of Adam’s peace is that it helps form community. Because of his needs and gifts Adam is at the center of his community. Nouwen concludes this article by stating,’ Most of my adult life I have tried to show the world that I could do it on my own, that I needed others only to get me back on my lonely road…with many others I wanted to become a self-sufficient star’ and yet, Nouwen suggests, that has left a world on the brink of total destruction.

Also available as a photocopy (located with item in file).

Item is 2 of a series of 3 articles. See Published works series, box 297, item 1733. Archives does not have part 3 of series.

Published in The Catholic Leader, 30 October 1988, p. 2.
This material was incorporated in a revised version in, Nouwen, Henri: ‘ Adam, God’s Beloved’, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, N.Y., 1997.

Added by L Joson, 13 November 2017
Revised by L Joson, 22 June 2018