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

Let the River Flow: Why WorldHope Corps digs village wells

  Sunday Sermon at the The Water's Edge in OB , San Diego, CA. "Woman at the Well" (John 4:7-15) When you think about the gospel story of the Samaritan woman with Jesus at Jacob’s well, I’d like you to picture this Woman at a similar well in northern Malawi. Sitting and talking with Pastor Dennis Singini about water. Her name is Nyang'oma, which means "drum." Her Christian name is Mary Botha. She is 85 years old and lives in a village in the Kampenda area of Northern Malawi. She has cared for 11 children, two of whom have died. And her husband has died. When Dennis and I first met Mary in 2008, her village did not have a deep well or access to clean water. Nor did the six surrounding villages with over 1,500 people. Women and children had to drink with animals from shallow seasonal wells or walk about of 5km away to drink from the closest stream. Sometimes they would get sick and complain of stomach aches. Cholera and dysentery were widespread, and m...
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

Twelve New Wells in Malawi in 2012

New Well for Mayaka UMC sponsored by Church of the Resurrection  Villagers in Zomba Mayaka wait their turn for clean water from COR well. WorldHope Corps, Inc. succeeded in drilling 12 new villages wells in 2012, including three for Church of the Resurrection in Leewood, KS; two for World Childrens Fund in San Jose, CA, one for Helen Ford in Ocean Grove, NJ; one for Pittman Presbyterian Church in NJ; and five for local sponsors in Malawi. From 2007-2011, WorldHope Corps drilled a total of 18 wells in northern Malawi by hiring borehole drillers from the southern Malawi.  In April, 2012, we acquired our own well rig and equipment, hired our own crew, and learned how to drill wells ourselves. By the end of 2012, we had drilled 12 new wells for a total of 30 wells since 2007!  Over 50,000 villages now can drink clean, fresh, safe water and not get sick from water borne diseases.  For this we praise God! For 2013, we have 2 more boreholes to drill for Unite...
Read more