Henri J. M. Nouwen - Spiritual Direction

W HEN HE was a young priest, Henri Nouwen understood spiritual direction as a formal relationship for supervision and accountability between a mature spiritual leader and a new priest or minister. For Henri, a spiritual director simply was someone who talks to you and prays with you about your life. Wisdom and direction emerge from the spiritual dialogue and relationship of two or more persons of faith committed to spiritual disciplines and the accountability required to live a spiritual life. Thus, spiritual direction as Henri understood it can be defined as a relationship initiated by a spiritual seeker who finds a mature person of faith willing to pray and respond with wisdom and understanding to his or her questions about how to live spiritually in a world of ambiguity and distraction.

The spiritual life rests on a paradox, says Henri: Without solitude, it is virtually impossible to live the spiritual life. Yet we cannot live our spiritual lives alone. Although we need solitude to know God, we require a faithful community to hold us accountable. We need to learn how to listen to the word of God, ever present within our hearts. We need disciplines of study and spiritual practice to discern the word of God in words of scripture. We need a church or faith community that provides opportunities for worshiping and sharing, engaging in mutual correction and bearing of burdens, confessing faults, offering forgiveness, and celebrating life. We also need guides: spiritual friends, a spiritual director, or a spiritual accountability group that can function for us as a safe place to bear our souls.

Henri created community wherever he went, and within those communities he offered spiritual direction, sometimes formally, but mostly in informal conversations and friendships. He also was a spiritual director to many through his personal correspondence, public teachings, and published writings. Before his death, he told his friends that when he died his spirit would be accessible to those he loved and who loved him. Therefore, we trust that your own experience of spiritual direction with Henri Nouwen is possible here and now by the power of the written word and the work of the Holy Spirit.

H OW T HIS B OOK C AME TO B E W RITTEN

The idea for this book came out of a simple encounter. During a banquet at which Rebecca was to speak on Henri Nouwen, a young Protestant woman studying to be a spiritual director was seated at her table and told her of some recent struggles. Depression resulting from infertility had rendered her lethargic and despondent. She said, Reading Henris books was the only thing that got me through last summer. Through his books, he served as a personal guide through my dark night.

How was it that a male Roman Catholic priest who was in his sixties when he wrote his last books and who never experienced the ups and downs of infertility or marriage was able to touch the wounded heart of this woman? Sure, depression crosses gender and ages, but it was more than that. Henri spoke to universal spiritual needs and longings and understood that what is most personal is also what is most universal. He lived from the depth of the Christian spiritual tradition and knew how to listen for the fundamental questions underlying common human struggles.

Many people turn to Henris books for spiritual guidance. Yet many of us wish we could have sat knee to knee with Henri and asked our most pressing spiritual questions. But that can no longer be. Henri is physically gone now. We began to wish for a book that would walk readers through the big questions that many people face when they intentionally begin to explore universal spiritual questions and go looking for a guide.

Michael, who benefited from Henris spiritual guidance in seminary, recalled that he still had his notes from a class Henri taught on spiritual direction at Yale Divinity School. That was enough to get us started. We searched the Henri Nouwen Archives, held at St. Michaels College in Toronto, for his unpublished writings on spiritual formation through spiritual direction. What we found was limited, but wonderful, and required considerable literary knitting and patching.

We pieced together previously unpublished reflections, presentations, homilies, course lecture notes, and recommended exercises. We also wove in material originally published as journal articles, which we found to be more informal and direct than the more polished versions found in his books. We occasionally used excerpts from Henris books when no better original source was available to cover the subject at hand. The resulting tapestry is our attempt, in collaboration with the Henri Nouwen Literary Trust, to present Henris approach to some of the big questions of the spiritual life that are often explored in any spiritual direction relationship. Our intention is to provide an experience of doing spiritual direction with Henri Nouwen mediated through his writings and recommended exercises. The edited manuscript, we believe, represents vintage Henrihis latest and most mature thinking and relational presence in the practice of offering and receiving spiritual direction. It must be acknowledged, however, that the companionship and accountability that are part of the spiritual direction relationship cannot be replicated or replaced by words on a page. This book, which is intended for both spiritual directors and those seeking direction, is meant to encourage personal reflection and engagement with others as you encounter Henris wisdom and theological reflection.