HOME TONIGHT with Kim Gottfried
Easter Greetings!
I am delighted to have been invited to facilitate this online book discussion on Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
I am currently serving as campus minister and Director of Chaplaincy Services at Ryerson Catholic Chaplaincy Centre. I have a background in kinesiology and hold a Master of Divinity Degree from the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto School of Theology. I enjoy being immersed and active in Ryerson’s rich creative and cultural atmosphere. This year I am also serving on the board for Canadian Catholic Campus Ministry. I lived for two years in a L’Arche Daybreak home and volunteered as a dancer with the L’Arche Daybreak Spirit Movers for eight years. Teaching theology through dance is a great area of interest to me, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover Henri Nouwen’s invitation to readers in Home Tonight to consider the parable of the prodigal son from the perspective of posture! There is a lot to discover about our spiritual journey within this book and I am looking forward to hearing all about your experience with Home Tonight. Please share a little about yourself and what brings you to this discussion.- Kim
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May 6th, 2009 @ 7:54 am
My name is Elizabeth Anne (”Liz”) Stewart, and I live in a retirement community in Santa Cruz, California. I have three adult “children” (identical twin sons and a daughter), four grandchildren, and one great granddaughter, age 7. I am 84 years of age. During my work and volunteer life I’ve worked for nonprofits, universities, and hospitals, served as Chaplain at S.F.General Hospital and in Pastoral Care at our local Dominican Hospital, a docent at the S.F.Grace Cathedral..
I am a long-time devotee of Henri and of Jean Vanier and have read nearly all of their books; have audiotapes of Vanier. Henri’s Advent and Lenten devotions have been cherished for about 20 years, and I am blessed to have a copy of the video “Henri’s Passion and Spirituality” from College of Notre Dame, in which he teaches “Ubi caritas” so beautifully and with great fervor.
Because of my own life circumstance (an only child of parents who divorced when I was 5)I was attracted to the title of Wayne Muller’s book, Legacy of the Heart, Spiritual Advantages of a Painful Childhood, and later learned that Henri had delivered the message at Wayne’s ordination, as well as that Henri had asked Wayne to use the name of Wayne’s organization, “Bread for the Journey,” for Henri’s book which is such a rich source of wisdom and inspiration. Another discovery was that Henri wrote the Introduction to the first book of Br. David Steindl-Rast, Gratefulness, The Heart of Prayer. I have been a volunteer for Br. David’s website, gratefulness.org, since 2003. Small world!
April 28th, 2009 @ 9:32 am
Corrie,
Welcome! It was great to hear a bit about you and your husband. I’ve cycled through Bobcaygeon on the Victoria beltline in the past - beautiful country!
How inspiring your small faith communities and reading groups sound. There must be some very fruitful dicsussions that come out of “Life of the Beloved”.
You must have met the Spirit Movers at L’Arche Daybreak if you were doing some spiritual dancing. I have danced with them before as well and yes, it is a moving experience.
Thanks for your prayers and I look forward to your sharings!
Kim
April 28th, 2009 @ 9:25 am
Hi Gina and Karen,
Glad to have you both in the discussion. We’ll be right with you Karen as you navigate your way through this first online discussion. We have a few people with us that have some experience with this kind of thing, so don’t hesitate to ask if you need help. I’m hoping Deborah or Sharon will be great guides for us new-be’s!
Kim
April 28th, 2009 @ 9:16 am
Welcome Debroah and Diane,
It’s good to meet you! Deborah, it sounds like you might be one of the more experienced of us at on-line book discussions! No worries about the delay, we’re starting off slow in the first week for people who might be waiting to get the book.
Hi Diane.
All the best with your paper. The students here at Ryerson are right in the middle of exams and essays as well. I’ve read both books you mentioned and wanted to let you know that Home Tonight can really stand on it’s own, that is, reading Nouwen’s “Return of the Prodigal Son” is not necessarily a prerequisite for “Home Tonight”, if that helps you decide which one to dive into first.
April 27th, 2009 @ 10:04 am
Hi Corrie and welcome! Just wanted to mention (in case you weren’t aware) that we have reflection guides for many of Henri’s books, including “Life of the Beloved”. You can access them from: http://www.henrinouwen.org/programs/readinggroups/
Blessings,
Maureen
Henri Nouwen Society
April 27th, 2009 @ 9:41 am
Hi Kim,
My name is Corrie, originally from Holland, emigrated to Canada in 1966 with my husband John. We have three daugthers, 5 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren.
I’m 64 years old, went in early retirement in 2003, live in Bobcaygeon with my husband who was diagnosed with cancer in the throat and had his voice box removed in 2001. We lived in Toronto at that time and the move had a great deal to do with his surgery and the stress at work, so he went in early retirement too, at that time he was 62 years old. We are happy here, very active in church life and activities, close bond with the family. At the moment I am involved with an intense Bethel Bible Study, that our church is hosting, Trinity United Church in Bobcaygeon. You don’t have to be a member to participate, we started out with 14 people, are down to 12 now, and we are members of different churches in our group which makes our discussions very interesting, and also educational. We respect each others opinions and accept the group for who we are and what we can offer to each other to get a better understanding. Through my church I also got involved with reading Henri Nouwen’s books, we are currently using “Life of the Beloved” as our house church study group, that group exists of 9 people and we meed at least every two weeks,on a wednesday morning, either at our homes or in the church library. Much sharing, reading and discussion is done, this particular group exists for 6 years now and there are more of those groups in our church. We don’t let them grow too large because of discussion chances and participation, when it gets to big another group is started. Each member of the group gets to be a leader in turn, and starts with prayer and devotion. I find Henri Nouwen a very spiritual caring person, and feel sad that I never knew about him earlier so I could have met him. My husband and I went to Daybreak for a session in Richmond Hill recently, and found it a very peaceful place to be. We did see some of the spiritual dancing and were very moved by this and how everyone interacted so positively and loving. I purchased the book we are going to discuss in this group here and am looking forward in sharing. As usual it is a bookwork I am writing here, but now you know a bit about me and I hope that helps. It will be a pleasure to share with you! Greetings and prayers from Corrie
April 27th, 2009 @ 8:56 am
Good Morning to all from Ohio!
I have become acquainted with Henri through my husband after his hospitaliztion for his alcohol addiction last year. So many unpredictable events followed. But through my introduction I have found so much strength & peace, acceptance & understanding of God love & presence in my life. I have read many of Henri’s books and will embark on a new venture of this type tonight. I am so excited about this. I feel a connection with Henri in my heart since he has brought a way for me to understand my faith, spirituality, and how to keep in touch with God constantly. I too am a new-be to this venue. Please help me as I begin this walk with all of you.
April 27th, 2009 @ 4:19 am
Hello,
My name is Gina.
The Morning Meditations with Henri Nouwen are so helpful to my integration into my day - I am fascinated how insights come at just the time issues in my life could use them!
I so look forward to the sharing of Home Tonight.
The morning birdsong chorus to you all!
April 26th, 2009 @ 10:31 pm
Deborah- I will be accompanying you in a delayed start but anticipate delivery here by Tuesday. It will be nice to journey with you once again.
Have a great week all and by the way, Kim, thank you in advance for moderating. - Rose
April 26th, 2009 @ 12:44 pm
Hello again everyone
I am still ‘digesting’ all of the wonderful wisdom from our last discussion on “With Open Hands”. My prayer life lately has been in a constant pattern of ebb and flow…that book and discussion gave me alot to think about!
I’ve never read “The Return of the Prodigal Son” although I’ve always intended to, so…..I ordered both books from the Nouwen Society and they arrived just this past Friday. I’m in the middle of writing a final paper for a post-graduate course but as soon as I’m done I will dive right into both books! I’m grateful always for this ‘cyber-community’ of fellow sojourners. I think of Henri as my ‘guru’ and God never fails to use this amazing saint-and all of you-to ‘meet me where I’m at’.
Looking forward to our travels together.
Peace to you all
Diane
7th grade teacher, mom and wife (30 year anniversary coming up!) in Northern New Jersey.
April 25th, 2009 @ 10:08 am
Hello all!
This will be the third time I have participated in this readers’ blog, and I have been so blessed by it! I ordered the book this morning–so I may be a little behind on my reading. But I know I will enjoy the introduction that I will receive to the book from all of you.
Like Rose, Henri has been my spiritual director for several years now. It seems that I either pick up the right book of his at the right time, or the daily meditations from Bread for the Journey come at just the right time.
You will all be in my prayers as we journey together through this book.
Peace and joy–Deborah
April 24th, 2009 @ 4:54 pm
Hi Norbert,
It is nice to see that I am not the latest new-be because I only joined here (or anywhere on line for that matter), for the first time last month. Your desire for the unconditional love of your wife was such a refreshing change to actually “hear”. Thank you for sharing that and it made me think that I wish several decades ago someone would have opened my eyes clearly that in marriage loving the partner as God does the is ultimate goal. By the way Kim, Christopher West has a wonderful series “theology of the body” that I was recently introduced to which you and your spouse might want to read. It seems to be perfect for all couples but especially newlyweds. My spiritual director gave a talk about it in November and it was so wonderful to hear the respect issues articulated; it was really beautiful and I will actually buy for my sons when they marry.
Amazon has Home Tonight in stock and it is enroute to arrive on Monday. I also ordered Spiritual Direction also via Henri that is new and hope I find it useful. To save $5 shipping, I spend $18 more — don’t go by my logic and I just hope there was Divine inspiration there. I also promise, like in the last book to keep all in this “book discussion”, in my daily prayers as I try to draw closer to being more loving to others –(for me - I won’t even strive for the unconditional at this point because I struggle enough to love all the way God wants me to. - Rose
April 24th, 2009 @ 10:12 am
Welcome Rose and Norbert!
Sounds like you have a few rare books in your hands Rose. It’s great that you’ll be joining the discussion. If you have trouble finding the book from the suburbs of New York, one option might be to give Daybreak Publications a call at 1 905 884-3454 (x234)where it can be ordered.
I’ve let Maureen Wright know about your concerns about the link and get back to you. Thanks for your feedback!
Norbert, what a thoughtful introduction! I too am newly married and have found the book to be fruitful in developing a deeper understanding of my husband. I would recommend that you try the exercises (Listening, Journaling, Communing) throughout the book. They are really challenging me to move beyond “understanding” to “compassion”. I look forward to any insights you discover & share with us from your reading of Home Tonight.
Kim
April 23rd, 2009 @ 3:55 pm
Hi Kim,
I live in Toronto with my wife of over just one year now. I work in a non-profit agency as the coordinator of settlement services. So I supervise 4 counsellors who give direct services to refugees and immigrants.
I’m looking forward to this on-line discussion. I’ve read a few of Henri Nouwen’s books and enjoyed them very much. I find that I can relate a lot to what he writes. Hopefully, this discussion will help me in my first vocation, that is to love my wife more fully as God loves her. I’ve never done an on-line discussion before but I guess there’s a first to everything.
Norbert Piché
April 22nd, 2009 @ 9:12 pm
Greetings,
I live in the suburbs of New York and Henri Nouwen has been my spiritual director through his books since 1992 and in 2002 I sort the direction of a priest that preaches and directs in the Nouwen methodology. Recently I was able to obtain an archived Fall 2006 copy of a publication from the Harvard Divinity School. This had interviews from many who worked with him during his brief stay there.
Kim, I look forward to joining you but first need to get the book “Home Tonight”. I love the Prodigal Son and didn’t realize this book even existed. Like Sharon, I too get the daily meditation but also own the book Bread for the Journey that the meditations for the past couple of years have been based on. By the way: - the link doesn’t come up under the meditation the way it used to. I had to retrieve the link via old mail to even see Kim’s original post.
(Sharon, please contact me by email Rosesent@aol.com because I do elder care and would love to see a link to your clothing line.) Also Sharon, I look forward to praying and reading this book for the next month with you. You gave some profound insights about prayer in our last sharings (With Open Hands).
Thank you all.
April 22nd, 2009 @ 3:09 pm
Hi Sharon,
You’re welcome! Your studies and work sound very interesting. I am glad you will be joining this discussion. It sounds like you’ve read several of Henri Nouwen’s writings. “Going even deeper into understanding” is a great way to describe the challenge and invitation Nouwen offers to us as readers. I too am looking forward to the community aspect of learning from each other’s insights,
Kim
April 22nd, 2009 @ 7:05 am
I live in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. Am studying pattern drafting with an interest in designing adaptive clothing for women who are disabled, wheelchair users especially. For a few years now I have been participating in the Henri Nouwen book discussions. His writing strikes a deep chord in me, the daily meditations come up on my computer screen each morning and help me go through the ups and downs of life. To be able to read and meditate on others’ insights, reading Henri Nouwen’s books, helps me to go even deeper into understanding our Christian faith journey together. Thank you for facilitating the discussion, Kim.