New Book by Henri Nouwen, My Thoughts

The Henri Nouwen Society has just released a new book, Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, a collection of writings on the parable of the prodigal son by the late Dutch priest and contemplative Henri Nouwen. This new volume is edited by Sue Mosteller.

Fr. Nouwen was a profound spiritual thinker and writer, and has had an indelible influence on Christian spirituality. His writing was clear, cogent, and easily comprehensible, appealing to a wide audience well beyond his Catholic roots. The most important marks that Fr. Nouwen has left are 1) his ever-present emphasis on what I like to call the "belovedness" of God, that every human being is a unique and beloved child of God with inherent worth, and 2) his insistence that God's Love is an ultimate justification to preserve life and cultivate peacefulness (he said no to both Vietnam and the Nuclear War).

In my own spiritual journey, Fr. Nouwen takes a place alongside other Christian contemplatives with mystical and pastoral bents such as Thomas Merton, Thomas Keating, M. Basil Pennington, William Meninger, T.S. Eliot, Teilhard de Chardin, George Fox, Emanuel Swedenborg, Phineas Quimby, William Blake, among many others who have taught me much and have inspired me to continue with my contemplative practices. His discerning insights and gentle pastoral tact have influenced my own conceptions of ministry, and his writing about his own internal conflict with identity and emotion are real struggles with which I can relate.

I know a few in Unity circles who have also been touched by Fr. Nouwen, but more should be introduced to his thought. I think his spiritual understandings easily resonate with Unity teachings, especially the underlying conviction that every person is a child of God meant to exude God's Love in ourselves and in our relationships. Sure, his Catholic commitment prevented him from speaking of humans as individual expressions of the one God, but his contemplative leanings show his place firmly within the contemplative tradition that is a solid part of the Catholic faith. So I'm willing to ventue a guess that he'd be able to relate to Unity principles of One Presence and One Power, the Indwelling Christ, the power of our intention, the efficacy of prayer activity, and the practical engagement of these truths in everyday life.

Indeed, for those of you who haven't read Fr. Nouwen's material check out the new book and go to the Henri Nouwen Society website.