The first week of each month has a short, image-backed quote with links to associated resources in the text below it. In other weeks, the short quote is taken from a longer one by the month's author, found below the image. The last week of the month has a short quote and questions to encourage reflection on all the month's quotations and images.
Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), our author for August, was a Roman catholic priest, Professor of theology and a prolific author whose books have been loved by many over more than five decades.
You can read more about Henri Nouwen's book, With Open Hands (Ave Maria Press, 1994 [1972]), from which this month's quotes are taken, by clicking here (although this is a much more recent edition).
You can read more about Henri Nouwen's book, With Open Hands (Ave Maria Press, 1994 [1972]), from which this month's quotes are taken, by clicking here (although this is a much more recent edition).
Audio resources
Guided Meditation: for any quote
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Lectio Divina: use with long quotes
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For a 5 minute audio guided meditation to use with each week's short quote, click play on the image. To pause and restart click the same place.
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An audio guided Lectio Divina for the longer quotes. Click play on the image above. Allow 10-15 minutes for this. For a text version, click the button.
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Monday 5th August, 2024
Henri Nouwen, With Open Hands (Ave Maria Press, 1994 [1972]), 61.
Image: Todd Trapani, unsplash.com/@ttrapani
Henri Nouwen was born in Holland in 1932. Called to priesthood form an early age, Nouwen studied theology and philosophy in his homeland and was ordained as a catholic priest in 1957. Wanting to understand more about the people he would work with and about himself, Nouwen then studied psychology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen, obtaining a doctorate in 1964. During further study in clinical psychology at Kansas in the USA, Nouwen became involved in the Civil Rights movement, participating in the famous Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965: see here. He returned to Europe for four years, teaching at Notre Dame in Paris and then the Catholic University in Utrecht, before becoming Professor or Pastoral Studies at Yale in the States. In 1976, at Yale, Henri explored a sense of call to monastic life, living for seven months with Trappist monks at the Abbey of the Genesee - see here - founded from the Abbey of Gethsemani, home to Thomas Merton. His Journal account of this time was later published as his Genesee Diary: see here. Nouwen spent six months travelling and living with the poor in South America, before a two-year stint as a Professor of Divinity at Harvard, then time at the L'Arche Communities in France, living and working alongside adults with learning disabilities: see here. A visit to the Richmond Hill L'Arche community in Ontario, and the support given to the community in crisis whilst he was there, resulted in an invitation to be their pastor. The community became Nouwen's home for the last decade of his life.
Before Nouwen's death in 1996 he published almost 40 books which have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold over 7 million copies. Many of his books have become dearly loved classics in the area of Christian spirituality and pastoral care. It's reported that, in a survey of 2003, he was indicated as the first choice author for both Catholic and mainstream Protestant clergy! Undoubtedly, Nouwen's most popular book is The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming (1992): see here. Nouwen was known to struggle with loneliness, depression and his sexuality, resulting in several periods of inpatient psychiatric care. It is probably Nouwen's honesty and humility about his personal struggles that makes his work so relatable and such a comfort for many across a wide range of different groups within society: it is said that this is the only book that Hilary Clinton carries in her bag - make of that what you will! His book, The Wounded Healer (1972), which takes it's title from the concept of psychoanalyt, Carl Jung, is also an extremely popular Nouwen book and has done much to further understanding of this idea in faith communities over many decades: see here. Nouwen also wrote extensively about peace, opposing both the Cold War between the West and Russia, and the USA's invasion of Vietnam.
You can watch a one hour documentary, Journey of the Heart: The Life of Henri Nouwen, starring Susan Sarandon, by clicking here. For more information on his life and ministry see the website of the Henri Nouwen society, here. By clicking the 'WATCH' tab you can go to their Henri Nouwen YouTube Channel and access a wide range of video materials.
Monday 12th August, 2024
Henri Nouwen, With Open Hands (Ave Maria Press, 1994 [1972]), 30.
Image: Todd Trapani, unsplash.com/@ttrapani
The short, image-backed quote, above, is taken from this week's longer quote, below, on pages 30-31 of Henri Nouwen's book. To read more about his book, from which this month's quotes are taken, click here.
Listen to this week's longer quote:
To listen to the longer quote, below, being read, click the play button on the small version of the image next to or below this text. To see the image full screen as you listen, click the expand screen icon in the corner. |
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We have become alienated from silence. If we go to the beach or on a picnic in the woods, the walkman,* is often our most important companion. It seems that we can’t bear the sound of silence.
Silence is full of sounds: the wind murmuring, the leaves rustling, the birds flapping their wings, the waves washing ashore. And even if these sounds cannot be heard, we still hear our own quiet breathing, the motion of our hands over our skin, the swallowing in our throats and the soft patter of our footsteps. But we have become deaf to these sounds of silence.
When we are invited to move away from our noisy world into this sound-filled silence, we often become frightened. We feel like children who see the walls of a house collapse and suddenly find themselves in an open field, or we feel as though we have been violently stripped of our clothing, or like birds torn away from their nests. Our ears begin to ache because the familiar noise is missing; and our bodies have become used to that noise as if it were a downy blanket keeping us warm. We become like addicts who must go through a painful process of withdrawal.
* A ‘walkman’ was a 1980s cassette tape-based personal sound system with earphones: today’s equivalent would be streaming music on a mobile phone.
Monday 19th August, 2004
Henri Nouwen, With Open Hands (Ave Maria Press, 1994 [1972]), 29.
Image: The New York Public Library, unsplash.com/@nypl
The short, image-backed quote, above, is taken from this week's longer quote, below, on pages 29-30 and 32 of Henri Nouwen's book. To read more about his book, from which this month's quotes are taken, click here.
Listen to this week's longer quote:
To listen to the longer quote, below, being read, click the play button on the small version of the image next to or below this text. To see the image full screen as you listen, click the expand screen icon in the corner. |
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For many, silence is threatening. They don’t know what to do with it. If they leave the noise of the city behind and come upon a place where no cars are roaring by, no ships tooting, no trains rumbling; where there is no hum of radio or television, where no CDs or tapes are playing, they feel their entire bodies gripped by an intense unrest. They feel like a fish thrown on dry land. They have lost their bearings. Some people can’t study without a solid wall of music surrounding them. If they are forced to sit in a room without a constant flow of sound, they grow very nervous.
Thus, for many of us, silence has become a threat. There was a time when silence was normal, and a lot of noise disturbed us. But today, noise is the normal fare, and silence—strange as it may seem—has become the disturbance. It is not hard to understand why people who experience silence in this way have difficulty with prayer. …
But still more difficult than getting rid of these exterior noises is the achievement of inner silence, a silence of the heart. It seems that a person who is caught up in all that noise has lost touch with their inner self. The questions which are asked from within remain unanswered. Unsure feelings are not cleared up; tangled desires are not straightened out, and confusing emotions are not understood. All that remains is a chaotic tumbles of feelings which have never had a chance to be sorted out.
Monday 26th August, 2024
Henri Nouwen, With Open Hands (Ave Maria Press, 1994 [1972]), 43.
Image: Anja Bauerman, Germany, unsplash.com/@anja_hb
The last week of each month offers some questions to help you reflect further on its quotations and images, and how they resonate with your own spiritual journey and relationship with God.
You can engage with these using the written text or the audio version of the questions, below.
The last week of each month offers some questions to help you reflect further on its quotations and images, and how they resonate with your own spiritual journey and relationship with God.
You can engage with these using the written text or the audio version of the questions, below.
Listen to the reflection questions: To listen to the reflection questions, below, being read, click the play button on the 'Reflect ...' image next to or below this text. To see the image full screen as you listen, click the expand screen icon in the corner. |
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Reflection questions:
Before reflecting on this month's quotes and images, take time to re-ground yourself in your body.
Perhaps take a few slow breaths, feel your feet on the floor and be aware of how your body feels in this moment.
1) Read back over or listen again to this month's quotes and spend time looking at their associated images. As you do so, note a phrase or image that draws your attention. If this is a phrase, you might like to write this out in a journal or on a piece of paper where you will see it regularly. Consider reading aloud several times what you have written to help the words sink more deeply into your heart. If an image resonates with you, let your gaze rest lightly on it for a couple of minutes, allowing it to speak to your heart. Consider using it as a screensaver for a while, or perhaps print it out and place it somewhere that you will see it often.
2) What emerges as you sit with the phrase or image that attracted your attention? Does a new insight or a question, emotion or sensation arise? Take some time to write down and ponder on whatever you notice.
3) Where can you see hope in the midst of what is emerging in you, for yourself, your neighbour, your community, or the planet? How might this impact your daily life and those with whom you share it?
4) In the days and weeks to come, how can you stay open to what you have discovered from your reflections?
Take some time to give thanks for the hope that you have found in this month's quotes and images.
To request the weekly 'Quoting Silence: A month with ...' emails each Monday, with links to the month's author page on the website, click this button.
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