Item 1650 - Thoughts from Henri Nouwen

7 p. of textual records

This item consists of 7 pages of printed notes from a talk given by Henri Nouwen in Washington, D.C. in the Spring of 1983 to an unidentified meeting of Religious Sisters. The first section is entitled: ‘Intimacy: the Discipline of Prayer’. The section begins with questions: Where have you made your home? Where do you belong? Where do you have your address so you can be addressed? Nouwen links these questions with Jesus’ announcement that he will live in us. Nouwen discusses the need we all have to be liked, to be respected, to be successful. ‘The more compliments we get, the more we seem to need.’ Nouwen describes humanity’s struggles with this through all time, the violence and greed associated with this and then reminds us that the Good News of the Gospel can break the network. ‘To do this takes a discipline of prayer because in the WORD intimacy is nurtured and developed’. In the second section entitled: Fecundity: Discipline of Community Nouwen reminds us that we are called to be fruitful and to help others to be so as well. Nouwen sees that this discipline develops in community where we recognize God in our neighbor. The third section is entitled: Ecstasy: Discipline of Healing. Nouwen identifies ecstasy as a ‘life of joy’ and states that we have to move out of the static place. We are to move out of the place of safety and security ‘and to move to the openness of life’.

Published in Sisterhood ([spring 1983?]): [3-9].
Date was determined from the article - from a talk given by Nouwen in Washington, DC, in Spring, 1983.
These headings: Intimacy, Fecundity, Ecstasy are used as the basis of : Nouwen, Henri: Lifesigns, Intimacy, Fecundity, and Ecstasy in Chrisitan Perspective, Image Books, Doubleday, N.Y. 1986. This book was also published under the title, "In the House of the Lord: The Journey from Fear to Love" (Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd., 1986).
There are no page numbers.

Added by L Joson, 9 November 2017