Jonas, Robert A. _Henri Nouwen: Writings Selected With an
Introduction   by Robert A. Jonas_ (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis
Books, 1998)   121 pp. and a 60 page introduction

Reviewed by Melanie Peter, melannpeter@hotmail.com
 
     In September 1996, at the age of 64, Henri Nouwen suffered a
fatal heart attack.  From that day on,  no one can speak for him as
well as his writings can. This makes the task of the biographer
formidable.  This volume is the third in Orbis' Modern Spiritual
Masters Series. The volumes are designed with a comprehensive
introduction so that the author's life and writings are presented
in context.  Whether or not this format works in other volumes,  it
is a weakness in this one.  However loving and sincere Jonas'
introduction/biography about his friend is, it should trail the
well-chosen and powerful writings of Nouwen.  
     It's not that Jonas' writing is bad.  It is just that he is
writing only about Nouwen, while Nouwen is transcribing  the human
soul.   After several attempts, I gave up wading through the
introduction, and skipped to the last half of the book where
Nouwen's writings have been relegated. 
     Nouwen was a popular lecturer, priest and author of more than
30 books.  He interpreted the mystical and esoteric side of
Catholicism for the not necessarily mystically-oriented.  Nouwen is
a master  at saying what is profound and complex in words disguised
as simple. He also reinterpreted the Church for those willing to
see at it in a fresh way. 
     His vision of ministry  seems to propose an ancient but
neglected Catholic mysticism.
     "Nothing is real without deriving its reality from God," he
wrote.
     "This was the great discovery of St. Francis when he suddenly
saw the whole world in God's hands and wondered why God didn't drop
it. St Augustine, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John Vianney, and all
the saints are saints precisely because for them the order of being
was turned around and they saw, felt, and --above all -- knew with
their heart that outside God nothing is, nothing breathes, nothing
moves, nothing lives."
     "This makes me aware that the basis of all ministry rests not
in the moral life but in the mystical life. The issue is not to
live as well as we can, but to let our life be one that finds its
source in the divine life."
     A theme throughout Nouwen's ministry is "how can one teach
spirituality in a spiritual way?" Jonas calls this his Mantra,
which Nouwen never abandoned.  "Ministry means, he wrote, "the
ongoing attempt to put one's own search for God, with all the
moments of pain and joy, despair and hope, at the disposal of those
who want to join this search but do not know how."
     A priest who admits pain and despair in his "ongoing search
for God" shows his vulnerability.  To invite others to join the
search demonstrates his belief in "downward mobility." 
     "God, in his infinite wisdom," he said, "chose to reveal his
divinity to us not through competition, but through compassion,
that is, through suffering with us. God chose the way of downward
mobility."
     "If we truly want to see the glory of God, we must move
downward with Jesus."
     Another theme was his belief in the "wounded healer," an echo
of Jung's conviction that, "Only the wounded physician heals."  
Nouwen didn't hide his wounds. They formed his spiritual link to
Christ.  "You who drew all people to yourself as you were lifted up
in your pain and in your glory, you stay with us as the wounded and
risen Lord. Whenever I touch your broken heart, I touch the hearts
of your broken people, and whenever I touch the hearts of your
broken people, I touch your heart." (A prayer from _Heart Speaks to
Heart_)
     Rollo May has said that "the continuous emergence of the God
beyond God (in the name of God-Paul Tillich) is the mark of
creative courage in the religious sphere." Nouwen was courageous. 
He brought new visions of God into the world and expanded the
meaning of godliness. He wrote, "A Christian is a Christian only
when he unceasingly asks critical questions of the society in which
he lives...refuses to allow himself or anyone else to settle into
a comfortable rest... remains dissatisfied with the status quo..."
     
     Occasionally, the selections seem redundant because they are
organized to fit into six main categories.  Selections don't always
fit neatly under one heading and therefore, similar passages are
repeated.  Nouwen also repeats certain refrains in various
writings.
     The selections themselves are fascinating tesserae that
combine to form a bright image of Nouwen, much more effectively
than Jonas or any biographer could.  They are lovely and intricate
fragments, and any one of them can serve as a meditation, to be
returned to again and again. More than that, they seem to catch and
reflect something essential about the mystical and contemplative
life.

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