The Way of the Heart

by

Years ago (1981) Henri Nouwen published a book with this title. Its focus was desert spirituality, which has become a very popular topic in many Christian circles, Catholic, Orthodox and much later for Protestants.

Nouwen spoke to the need for solitude. When I first read his book (back in the early 1980's), I didn't grasp what Father Nouwen was trying to get across. Surprise! That's true for most new explorations. What did Father Nouwen mean, when he spoke of a need for solititude?

He realized, like most monastics, that without an element of solitude we can become not just out of psychological balance, but can be plagued with the distortions of societal disruption. We can lose our way.

That's why Anthony the Great fled the Roman Empire to enter into solitude in the Egyptian desert. He did it to save his "soul."

Our current time is filled with violence. We don't need to look very far in the news to find it. It doesn't matter which news network we read. Why are we currently in a state of "madness?"

Part of it is because we have lost our "moorings." We scurry from task to task caught up in the latest fads which emerge from culture, perhaps without reflecting on the "essence" of these fads which drive culture for a while. If we continue our "scurrying," if our minds "chatter," there is no peace for us as individuals. So, we can become prone to being “hijacked" by whatever seems prominent in the moment. Without deep "mooring" we lose our "heart," the very essence of who we are as individuals. We lose our vision.

Part of it is a lack of community building. We have become very individualistic and isolated from one another. We have become "enemies” because we are disconnected from our own "true selves." And, because we are disconnected, we can't accurately perceive humanity in the individuals and groups we label as "the other” (to use a concept presented by Toni Morrison).

When we are disconnected from our "true selves" we are subject to deep anxiety and fear. We feel threatened. The world doesn't feel "safe." This is because we aren't in touch with our own humanity. Because we are disconnected from self, we are disconnected from "others."

Henri Nouwen wrote about the use of The Jesus Prayer in his book, "The Way of the Heart." It is a core practice of a life shaped by solitude. The Prayer is: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The short form of the prayer is the "Kyrie." "Kyrie eleison; Christe eleison; Kyrie eleison."

When we pray the Jesus Prayer we recognize that we are, indeed, separated from God and dis-connected from others. As we pray The Jesus Prayer, we are drawn into the depths of God. Solitude reinforces this miraculous prayer. We are made "whole.”

Biblically, the desert (ha midbar, he eremos) is the place of demons. Monastics went into the desert to face their own demons. In soliitude, in one's "cell" the sin and distortion in their lives were stripped away and replaced by God's grace and peace.

Nouwen wrote: "The prayer of the heart is a prayer that does not allow us to limit our relationship with God to interesting words or pious emotions. By its very nature such prayer transforms our whole being into Christ precisely because it opens the eyes of our soul to the truth of ourselves as well as to the truth of God. In our heart we come to see ourselves as sinners embraced by the mercy of God. It is this vision that makes us cry out, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The prayer of the heart challenges us to hide absolutely nothing from God and to surrender ourselves unconditionallty to his mercy." (Nouwen, Henri J.M., The Way of the Heart: Dessert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry, Seabury Press, New York, 1981, pp 78-79).

These times require a 'heartfelt" anchoring in God's love and mercy, not judgment or hate. Perhaps this can become part of the life of our clergy and congregations as we become agents of healing and hope.

The Rev. Chris Madison is a retired clergy member of the Indiana Annual Conference. To reproduce this content elsewhere, please contact the author via his Facebook page.