Abbey had recently been sent a book list for her to read while participating in her Mission Year. Most of the books looked intriguing and I hope to read most of them in the coming months. The first one I could locate at our local library is this small book by Henri Nouwen. I've read a few of Nouwen's works, The Return of the Prodigal Son, and Adam: God's Beloved. Both books were small, insightful, and gathered me into a deeper place with God.
The Way of the Heart follows suit with the aforementioned works. Nouwen doesn't take up a lot of space to say with profound simplicity what should naturally come to us, but we have lost along the way.
By turning to the Desert Fathers, Nouwen delves into three "lost practices" of Christianity...solitude, silence and prayer. This book is easy to read yet I'm not sure you could ever plumb the depths of living out these three disciplines, particularly in our crazy, busy, obnoxiously loud world.
But a heart who sought to live like Jesus, may just be the tool to point us onto the path of finding Him through solitude, silence and prayer. This book could easily be read over a latte' at Starbucks, and yet the vast expanse of the spiritual life that will be opened to you through these concepts will take a lifetime to live.
No comments:
Post a Comment