Beloved: Henri Nouwen in Conversation
Philip D. Roderick,
Director of The Quiet Garden
Movement, writes about his new book.
Henri Nouwen, who died in 1996, was one of the most
outstanding spiritual leaders of recent times. A priest, academic and
author of over forty books, many of which remain in print, his ministry
found a new depth of expression when he joined l’Arche, the community
founded by Jean Vanier for people with profound learning disabilities.
Living and working among them, the themes he had explored in his writing
and speaking took on a deeper resonance.
"Beloved", the book and CD package is
created from an interview he gave to me some fifteen years ago. Never
previously broadcast or transcribed, we hear Henri Nouwen’s
distinctive voice in conversation about the themes that inspired most of
his writing.
The book helps me to share with the reader my delight
in this conversation with Henri that is studded with gems of spiritual
wisdom. These merit slow, contemplative reading. With suggestions for
reflection or discussion, I hope "Beloved" is a great
accompaniment for an individual or group retreat as well as for personal
listening and reading.
A short extract:
"The Church could come alive just from those
whose involuntary solitude is converted. Interestingly enough, there are
going to be more and more of these people who grow older and who have
never been taught by the Church to live a mystical life. As soon as they
are not relevant any more, not popular any more, have no power, they get
bored stiff. There are people who are sixty to seventy years old who are
bored stiff. The whole world is in pain: we need people to pray; we need
people to think creatively; we need people to make phone calls; we need
people for friendship; we need people to write cards; we need people to
stay in touch with other people. There is so much loneliness, and many
are sitting there complaining that they are forgotten by the world. They
complain because interiorly they have no structures creatively to turn
their solitude, their loneliness, into a gift for others and for the
world. They are not even aware that they’re still alive, not simply
here to finish up their life. They are still alive because God has not
finished with them; they have a mission in the world."
The book is published by SCM-Canterbury Press Ltd.
ISBN 978-1-85311-810-4
