Carol A. Berry - Learning from Henri Nouwen and Vincent Van Gogh: A Portrait of the Compassionate Life

InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
ivpress.com

2019 by Carol A. Berry

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.

InterVarsity Pressis the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges, and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, visit intervarsity.org.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

While any stories in this book are true, some names and identifying information may have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

Excerpts from previously unpublished and certain published material written by Henri Nouwen are included here with the permission of the Henri Nouwen Legacy Trust. Unpublished material is contained in the Henri J. M. Nouwen Archives and Research Collection, University of St. Michaels College, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Cover design: Autumn Short
Interior design: Jeanna Wiggins

Cover images: garden in bloom: Garden in Bloom, Arles by Vincent van Gogh /
Private Collection / Bridgeman Images
grunge paper: IntergalacticDesignStudio / E+ / Getty Images

ISBN 978-0-8308-7272-5 (digital)

ISBN 978-0-8308-4651-1 (print)

This digital document has been produced by Nord Compo.

This book is dedicated to my sons
Andris, Mathias, and Kristof.

Like Vincent and Henri,
they seek to live by following their conscience,
often going against the grain but always
offering blessings of compassion
along the way.

eading this book, my eyes welled with tears as I toured it like an art gallery of portraits and images portraying the spiritual yearnings in the lives of the author, Carol Berry, and her not-nearly-perfect but precious friends, Vincent van Gogh and Henri Nouwen. Tears also came when I was absorbed by the artists letters and stories that so vividly portrayed my own soul-felt yearnings and connected with the pain I encounter in life. Pouring over this perfectly subtitled book, A Portrait of the Compassionate Life, felt like walking through an art gallery. I was compelled to stop; step into each work of art; gaze; note the detail, color, darkness, and light; and allow my heart to feel how human anguish ever so gradually mutated into compassionate living. This, I strongly believe, is the only way to read this book!

As the author, Carol becomes the tour guide for readers who also spiritually yearn to grow in compassion. She is unique and the only person who could pen a book of such feeling and depth. During the past forty years, she has cared pastorally with her husband, Steve, for his parishioners in wealthy and poverty-stricken churches across the country.

In her efforts to be further inspired by her two friends, Carol has studied Vincents letters and, in the middle of the night, looked long and hard at Vincents paintings. With exceptional passion, she has thoughtfully confirmed her knowledge of, and friendship with, Henri Nouwens life story from friends and his more than forty books. Mother of three beloved sons, she is an accomplished artist and art instructor, having offered countless retreats and workshops on the lives and ministries of van Gogh and Nouwen. To meet Carol is to encounter the influence of her brother-artists in the flesh. I have known her for twenty-five years, and she is, for me, an example of mercy and compassion, a beloved sister who touches my life with beauty and love.

This is not a book about ideas or a theological treatise but a book of living portraits of people whose hearts, like ours, have been molded in a broken world by a wide range of experiences such as love, fear, hope, despair, pain, care, and yearnings for power or compassion. It is a true story, and one that invites us to identify painfully and hopefully with its subjects. Each portrait draws us into our own deepest heartfelt aspirations designed in the image of God for our living in an imperfect world.

The book you hold is more than a book. It is a revelation! Studying the portraits, examining the letters, and reading the stories, one enjoys the rare privilege of personally identifying with both the vulnerability and the power revealed in hearts where compassion was born from anguish. The artists become guides and shepherds, tracing the universal pathway to human tenderness and understanding.

Richard Wagemeses spiritual yearnings, quoted above, eventually brought him calm, peace, prayer, compassion, and forgiveness, resulting in joy and freedom. I trust and believe that Carol and her friends bring comfort to the painful longings in our vulnerable hearts. May your tour of this unique gallery of transformation become a fruitful journey into your hearts desires!