Notes from Nouwen

Sunday I picked up a copy of "The Way of the Heart" by Henri Nouwen. It is the first book by him that I've had the pleasure of reading. The book is broken into three sections: Solitude, Silence, and Prayer. I want to share a few bits of his wisdom with you. The following are a few quotes that stood out to me. 

~"Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self."

~"Solitude is not a therapeutic place. Rather, it is the place of conversion, the place where the old self dies and the new self is born."

~"Compassion is hard because it requires the inner disposition to go with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable, lonely, and broken."

~“A word that bears fruit is a word that emerges from the silence and returns to it."

~“Too often our words are superfluous, inauthentic, and shallow. It is good discipline to wonder in each new situation if people wouldn’t be better served by our silence than by our words.”

To keep it simple, here are two ideas that made me think.

~ Does the overuse of words lead to a loss of their creative power?

~If words lead to sin, perhaps a great deal of silence is prescribed. 

Here is a quick story that was my favourite part of the book:

“Three Fathers used to go and visit blessed Anthony every year and two of them used to discuss their thoughts and the salvation of their souls with him, but the third always remained silent and did not ask him anything. After a long time, Abba Anthony said to him: 'You often come here to see me, but you never ask me anything,' and the other replied, 'It is enough to see you, Father.'"

I leave you with the last sentence of the book,

 “ By the time people feel that just seeing us is ministry, words such as these will no longer be necessary.”

What I liked best about the book wasn't something inside, perhaps it was something that was not inside. I liked that the message was portrayed even in the binding of the book. What I mean by this is that the book is about how less words is more, and that the words that are used should draw you into thoughts. This book may only be 95 pages, but the 95 pages stay true to the message. The fewer words, the more authentic they are and the less room there is for error. I started reading the book, because I wanted to know more, and I ended the book wanting to learn even more! That is a successful book, in my books.