The Way of The Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry

Short, simple, easy to read in the typical Nouwen fashion, and yet when you are finished, you can not help but feel refreshed, energized, and re-awakened to that "tiny whispering sound" referred to in 1 Kings 19:12. This is an excellent book about the heart of prayer: standing silent in the presence of God. There is a lot of noise out there, and this book shows how to leave the noise outside, how to instill the silence of presence to God in your soul, and how to carry that out to the marketplace, where the message of the Gospel so needs to be heard.

Henri Nouwen's "The Way of the Heart" is a mystic's diagnosis and prescription for an over-busied modernity. Though the application is universal, it seems that one of his primary targets are the clergy, whose m.o. has become too much like that of their secular counterparts in the business world. The book, like much of Nouwen's work, could easily be said to be a collection of short essays collected into a book (albeit a short 75 pages). It is unified by its deference to the Desert Fathers, the early monks who escaped the busy-ness of their own age with a lifestyle of retreat. The three major subsections are: solitude, silence, and prayer. Solitude is the withdrawal from the secularly-driven lifestyle of activity. Silence is the intentional reevaluation of whether or not our words are intentional and necessary. Prayer is to be an incessant activity no matter what our tasks for the day. Nouwen does a tremendous job on three levels. He accurately assesses the contemporary milieu, then develops a spiritual remedy for it, and finally makes pragmatic application fro modern readers. This book is a must-read and an easy read. Ver refreshing.

When Nouwen is hot, he is hot, and in this book he is hot. Nouwen copies from John of the Cross when he insists that the value of a contemplative life is character transformation.His first section on solitude is right on. Too many of our church leaders are so action oriented they shy away from solitude. The resulting religion is as cold and pragmatic as any profit driven corporation. Your pastor needs to read this chapter.Nouwen's second section on silence picks up where the discussion on solitude ends, and goes a bit deeper. Here, he offers a call for measured speech. All speech must have purpose and come from a quiet center. This is a good section for any person who wishes to grow deeper in the Christian faith. However, those who are too quick to act or ADD to accept it may lay the book aside about this time.The final section deals with hesychasm. Nouwen describes this as prayer of the heart (entire being) as opposed to usual prayer of the mind. Prayer of the mind usually asks things of God, or tries to understand God. These ways of praying are not bad, but limited. Nouwen opts for a style of prayer that offers constant communion with God.However, it is as this point that I feel the book breaks down. Nouwen does a good job of stating the need for such prayer, and refers to it with illustrations and theology, but he doesn't quite teach the reader how to go about practicing this form of inner prayer.Someone well versed in contemplative prayer may feel affirmed by this book and get a lot out of it.Someone who wishes to break the yoke of busy, busy Christianity will find a seductive light of hope within the pages of these books.But the novice who wishes to dig deep, must use the book as a springboard to other readings. Fortunately there are many other good sources out there to continue feasting upon.

This tiny volume whispers truth to the soul suffering from spiritual clamor. Take and read, drink in slowly, and absorb the peace.