Spiritual Direction

Henri Nouwen has long been one of my favourite writers. His gentle probing of questions around spirituality, ministry and relationships, especially our relationship with God frequently speak helpfully to me. Spiritual Direction is one of a number of Nouwen books that was not written as such by him, but put together after his death with editors using notes and unpublished scripts. I am glad that this additional sharing of Nouwen's insights continues.

In this book he considers the value of spiritual direction and, even more particularly, the importance of making space for God. It is a timely reminder in a society which places so many demands on us.

Just asking, as he does, simple, but important, questions is immensely valuable - "How is your prayer life? How are you making space in your life for God to speak?"  He recognises the value of letting the gospel stories soak into our lives and considering where we might be in those stories - "The more we let the events of Christ’s life inform and form us, the more we will be able to connect our own daily stories with the great story of God’s presence in our lives. Thus, the discipline of the Church, as a community of faith, functions as our spiritual director by directing our hearts and minds to the One who makes our lives truly eventful."

He also reminds us that to try and come up with all the answers is not likely to be a fruitful search. We need to recognise that God is bigger than us and, at least sometimes, to simply 'be' with God. There is nothing wrong with searching. The gospels tell many stories of people going searching for Jesus. There are things to be found, but there are others things that are beyond us.

Nouwen puts it like this - "To those with serious struggles and burning questions, I want to reach out with compassion and say: “You seek answers to what cannot be fully known. I don’t know either, but I will help you search. I offer no solutions, no final answers. I am as weak and limited as you are. But we are not alone. Where there is charity and love, God is there. Together, we form community. Together we continue the spiritual search.”"