Spiritual Direction

HarperCollins Publishers

Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith with Michael J. Christensen and Rebecca Laird.

Henri J. M. Nouwen, priest,teacher and author, understood the spiritual life as a journey of faith and transformation, deepened by contemplative prayer, community accountability, and service in the world. Now, Michael Christensen, one of Nouwen’s students at Yale and currently the national director of Communities of Shalom at Drew University, and Rebecca Laird, one of Nouwen’s publishing acquaintances and now a pastor, have developed his standard course on spiritual direction into a new book by Nouwen and a 24 hour spiritual direction retreat.

Together, they present readers and retreat participants with a fresh and definitive work and literary experience of Henri Nouwen as spiritual director, sharing his wisdom and guidance on how to live the questions of the spiritual life. In three sessions, new material and exercises from Nouwen’s spiritual direction classes at Yale and Harvard will be introduced and participants will reflect on ten parables and ten questions of the spiritual life--revealing wisdom for the long walk of faith.

Living the Questions of the Spiritual Life is what this book is about.

The ten questions Nouwen invites us to live deeply from the heart are these:

· Who Will Answer My Questions?

· Where Do I Begin?

· Who am I?

· Where Have I Been and Where am I going?

· What is Prayer?

· Who is God for Me?

· How Do I Hear the Word?

· Where do I Belong?

· How Can I Be of Service?

· Where do I Go From Here?

Nouwen suggests three spiritual practices that will reorient our lives and open the door to spiritual transformation:

· Look within to the Heart: Introspection and contemplative prayer in solitude

· Look to God in the Book: Devotional reading and meditation on sacred text

· Look to Others in Community: Relationships with the people of God in small groups, worship experiences and mission activities in the world.

(HarperSanFrancisco; Hardcover, 192 Pp. June 2006)

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