Item 1729 - The peace that is not of this world

5 p. of textual records

This item is a 5 page article by Henri Nouwen entitled, ‘The Peace that is not of this world’, published in The Journal of Christian Healing, Vol. 10, No. 1, Spring 1988, pp. 9 – 13. This item is a slightly revised version of an article published in Weavings, March-April 1988. In the introduction Nouwen begins by asking ‘How to speak about peace? During the last years my own life has gone through so many changes that I have lost much of my self-confidence.’ Nouwen then goes on to state that he wants to share his poverty with us by speaking about his current life at l’Arche Daybreak. Nouwen begins by describing his move from the intellectual atmosphere of Harvard to the l’Arche community for the mentally handicapped at Daybreak. It appears this article is taken from a talk Nouwen was asked to give at Harvard University. He speaks of in a sense moving from an atmosphere of issues to 'the background [of a] few very poor people who have taken their place'. Nouwen then writes of the atmosphere of loving equality at his house and then begins to write of Adam Arnett for whom Nouwen had some responsibility. Nouwen describes Adam as a totally dependent man who could not speak nor care for himself and who suffered daily with grand mal seizures. Nouwen describes his own apprehension at being asked to take early morning and evening responsibility for Adam. As he began to know Adam however, Nouwen says, ‘Out of this broken body and broken mind emerged a most beautiful human being offering me a greater gift than I would ever be able to offer him’. Nouwen uses the remainder of the article to write of Adam’s role as a man of peace, a peacemaker. ‘Adam’s peace is first of all a peace rooted in being’. Nouwen compares this with the desire of many people to strive for success and for self-worth rather than accepting much more just ‘to be’. Nouwen writes of the importance of the heart over the mind; of the heart as the center of our being where God is. Nouwen writes of the ways in which Adam helps to create community among all those who are committed to his care. As Nouwen concludes the article he writes of Jesus, the Prince of Peace; Jesus whose peace is found in weakness. Nouwen then goes on to speak of the larger international world, ‘I am only saying that the seeds of national and international peace are already sown on the soil of our own suffering and the suffering of the poor, and that we truly can trust that these seeds, like the mustard seeds of the gospel, will produce large shrubs in which many birds can find a place to rest.’ Finally, Nouwen points to the Gospel beatitude, ‘Blessed are the Peacemakers, they shall inherit the earth’ and ‘it fills me with a special joy that all the Adams of this world will be the first to receive this inheritance’.

Published in Journal of Christian Healing 10, no. 1 (spring 1988): 9-13.
Another version of article was published in Weavings 3, no. 2 (March-April 1988) - See Published works series, box 297, item 1727.
This material was incorporated in a revised version in, Nouwen, Henri: ‘ Adam, God’s Beloved’, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, N.Y., 1997.
It appears from the content of the article that this was originally a talk given by Nouwen at Harvard.

Added by L Joson, 13 November 2017