DRAWN BY THE CROSS

Did you receive your Lenten devotional in the mail or pick one up at church? This year our Ministry by Mail coordinator, Suzanne Bruce selected Drawn to the Cross: Inspiration from Henri Nouwen for our communal study and meditation.
Henri Nouwen often gets quoted in devotionals, articles and sermons but many people don’t know his back story. Nouwen was born in the Netherlands in 1932. He went on to study for the priesthood and was ordained in 1957.  Henri was interested in psychology and using it in his counseling and in exploring the human side of faith. Eventually, he went into teaching, first at Notre Dame University, then Yale and finally at Harvard. During this time, he was also active in the Civil Rights Movement and ending the violence and brutality taking place in South America.
In 1985, Nouwen resigned from Harvard and after a year of discernment, made a radical career change from university professor to pastor caring for severely handicapped people at the Daybreak L’Arche community. Nouwen wrote about this transition in the prologue of his book, The Return of the Prodigal Son. In the book, Nouwen, who suffered from depression and loneliness, relates the story of his chance encounter with Rembrandt’s famous painting of the same name, and his experience of seeing himself as the returning son in desperate need of actually experiencing the love of God, not just talking about it and thinking about it. He wrote, “As I reflect on my journey, I become more and more aware of how long I have played the role of observer. For years, I had instructed students on the different aspects of the spiritual life, trying to help them see the importance of living it. But had I, myself, really ever dared to step into the center, kneel down, and let myself be held by a forgiving God?” (12)
Nouwen writes about his need for control in his life, even of his own spiritual journey and the discomfort of “relinquishing the security of the observer for the vulnerability of the returning son.” Working with the mentally handicapped at L’Arche taught Nouwen how to receive love, not for what he had accomplished but just because he was; a lesson he needed to learn because he knew he, “would never be able to live the great commandment to love without allowing [him]self to be loved without conditions or perquisites.” (14)
To this day, Nouwen is considered one of the most popular and influential modern spiritual authors. The Henri Nouwen Society website offers this explanation of why his influence endures: “Few spiritual writers have been so unabashedly candid about their own struggles and brokenness. His words speak directly to the wounds we each have experienced in our own lives, and they remind us that we are each a fully loved child of God, scars and all.”
Nouwen’s honesty and openness about his own woundedness and his thirst for God along with the experiences of his life gave him a unique wisdom grounded in compassion that speaks to the heart. Nouwen’s story invites us also to move from being an observer to becoming actively involved in receiving and sharing God’s love. I hope you will enjoy reading and meditating using this year’s devotional as part of your Lenten journey this year.
If you want to learn more about the life and work of Henri Nouwen visit https://henrinouwen.org/more-about-henri

​Blessing, Pastor Sue