An Henri Fix

I’ve been aching to read Henri Nouwen as of late. I know that it’s a God-leading ache because I haven’t read very many of his writings, and yet his name kept echoing through my head. This morning I loaded up the stroller and headed to the Fox library to see what their collection looked like. His Creative Ministry stood out to me: seemed relevant to the “Where Have All The Young Adults Gone?” workshop I’m facilitating at Yearly Meeting this July - something is leading them elsewhere: what is our church gathering lacking?

His introduction points out the necessity of balancing inner and outer spiritual practices - nothing really new, but a good reminder when focusing on leadership (xvi). I’m currently struggling with getting ‘outward’: it’s so easy to whole up and saturate myself with information and experiences from books, blogs, friends, websites, etc. I feel like a lab scientist who never gets in the field to put this knowledge to use. But the experiences should be real and meaningful rather than artificial and forced: the world is not my laboratory.

“Prayer is life; prayer and ministry are the same and can never be divorced. If they are, the minister becomes a handyman and the priesthood nothing more than another way to soften the many pains of daily life” (xx). And we wonder why folks leave church gatherings feeling empty, or why the church limps along living something that is not even close to the abundant life we’re called to.

“If the desire for silence, for moments of contemplation and meditation, is not born out of our concern for this world, we will soon become bored, not understanding why we have to be subjected to so many pious exercises” (xxi). That could sum up many Open Worship experiences for folks, I would bet. I know that I get so tired of the seemingly endless driving circle of self-reflection: turning my thoughts and concerns outward seems the only way to exit safely. Perhaps it would be good to remind folks of the Queries that are usually stuck to the front inside of our hymnals.