Skip to main content

Remembering Henri Nouwen

 
Today--September 21--is Henri's day.  As I remember my teacher Henri Nouwen on this 15th Anniversary of his death and transition, I am reminded not only of his incredibly significant contribution to the theory and practice of spiritual direction and spiritual formation, but of his conviction that if we befriend our death before we die, our spirit remains accessible to those we leave behind.
I reached out today to others who knew Henri in life and remember him in death.  They too recognize September 21 as an auspicious day for many.   In honor of Henri, I offer this quote about “befriending death” in Chapter 7 of Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit   
"It seems indeed important that we face death before we are in any real danger of dying and reflect on our mortality before all our conscious and unconscious energy is directed to the struggle to survive… I think, then, that our task is to befriend death."

Looking ahead, Drew University will honor the memory of Henri Nouwen on All Saints Day--Novemeber 1, 2011.

Drew has an endowed Lectureship in Classical Christian Spirituality to which we invite outstanding figures in the field to come and lecture on the subject related to the person, witness and works of Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996).
Past presenters have included: Dean James Pain, Michael Christensen, Jim Forest, Nathan Ball, Robert Jonas, Robert Ellsberg, Rebecca Laird, Lisa Cataldo and John Dear.
  
This year's featured Lecturer is Enuma Okoro, author of the spiritual memoir, Reluctant Pilgrim--an award wining finalist for the 2010 USA Book News and 2011 National Eindie Excellence Book Awards.  She also is co-editor (with Shane Claiborne and Jonahtan Wilson-Hartgrove) of Common Prayer:  A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals.  Her writings have been featured on ABC's Good Morning America, Christian Century and Christianity Today.

Her topic for the Drew lecture is BY WAY OF PAINT AND PEN: THE ARTS AS A MEDIUM FOR SPIRITUAL FORMATION
Henri loved the arts--especially painting, music and dance--and Okoro, a liturgical artist born in Nigeria and raised in New York, loves Henri's spirituality and life work.
Please join us if you can on Tuesday, November 1, 7:30pm, in Craig Chapel for a liturgical dance processional, Taize meditation in song, and special lecture by Enuma Okoro. Followed by a Book Signing in the Atrium of Seminary Hall. 
To register, or for further information, contact Nancy VanderVeen at nvanderveen@drew.edu
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue Lecture Notes: Presented by Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D.,  Associate Professor in the Practice of Spirituality and Ministry,  Drew University;  and  International Director, Communities of Shalom, The United Methodist Church Introduction “There is a little man in Peru, a man without any power, who lives in a barrio with poor people and who wrote a book.   In this book he simply reclaimed the basic Christian truth that God became human to bring good news to the poor, new light to the blind, and liberty to the captives.   Then years later this book and movement it started is considered a danger by [the USA, or Rome], the greatest power on earth.   When I look at this little man, Gustavo, and think about [the President of the US, or the Pope], I see David standing before Goliath, again with no more weapon than a little stone, a stone called A The...
Read more

First Generation Lambs Club Reunion

Fifteen of us gathered Saturday night at the Lambs Club for a 35 th year reunion of those who helped start the Lamb’s Church in Times Square in the mid to late 1970’s, including: Rev. Paul S. Moore , Founder of the Lamb’s Church of the Nazarene, and his wife, Tamara Dr. Michael J. Christensen , charter member and former associate pastor, and his wife Dr. Rebecca Laird Fr. William (BJ) Webe r, former Associate Pastor and Director of the Lamb’s Residency, and his wife Sheila who lived at the Lamb’s Jim and Dustee Hullinger, who were on staff together and made the Lamb’s their home for over 25 years Effie Canepa , who was the church pianist under 3 pastors, and her husband Peter Shirley Close, who attended the Lamb’s in the late 1970’s while studying, performing  and teaching music and voice Carl "Chappy" Valente , former associate pastor Rev. Bob DiQuatto , lead singer of the Church’s “Manhattan Project” and staff member of the Lamb’s, and his son Jason Rev. Gab...
Read more

Not Afraid of Death by Julia Esquivel

In reading your blog, Michael, I immediately think of these two poems is poem by Julia Esquivel, from Guatemala, whom I had the pleasure of meeting years ago.  Un abrazo, Ada Maria I AM NOT AFRAID OF DEATH I am no longer afraid of death I know well Its dark and cold corridors Leading to life. I am afraid rather of that life Which does not come out of death, Which cramps our hands And slows our march. I am afraid of my fear And even more of the fear of others, Who do not know where they are going, Who continue clinging To what they think is life Which we know to be death! I live each day to kill death; I die each day to give birth to life, And in this death of death, I die a thousand times And am reborn another thousand Through that love From my People Which nourishes hope! THREATEN WITH RESURRECTION They have threatened us with Resurrection There is something here within us which doesn’t let us sleep, which doesn’t let us rest, which doesn’t stop the pounding deep inside. It is t...
Read more