Following Fr. John Dear's challenging lecture last night on the Road to Peace, I offered the following reflection on the tension between contemplative and active forms of peacemaking in chapel at Drew this morning: Are you an active or a contemplative Christian? Are you an activist who prophetically speaks truth to the power…or a contemplative who prays for peace and tries to live a life of compassion? Are you a contemplative-active or an active contemplative? (It’s complicated. It’s a spectrum. The two poles are in tension.) Last night Fr. John Dear was in the house [at the annual Henri Nouwen Lecture at Drew]. We heard a radical gospel according John --the peace and justice activist. We also heard him talk appreciatively about his friend, Fr Henri Nouwen, the more contemplative peacemaker—who died 14 years ago this week (Sept 21, 1996). Henri Nouwen is a well-known writer of 40+ books on contemplative spirituality, in...
Project Updates and Reflections by Michael J. Christensen, Director