It’s an understatement to say we are living in uncertain times. The underlying message of instability is broadcast on every news program, editorial page and business platform. It’s hard to escape the uneasy feeling that the ground is shifting below us, much like an earthquake that residents of the Pacific Northwest feel from time to time. No one knows what the ultimate fallout will be. What is certain is the worry people are feeling that stretches across party lines and state lines.
At times like this, I reach into my bookshelves. There is no order to my bookshelves or the baskets of books in my office or next to my bed. They are my beloved companions. They are precious, tangible and satisfying. My Kindle reads will never be as nourishing.
This afternoon, Love, Henri: Letters on the Spiritual Life by Henri Nouwen caught my attention. A book title that contains the word “love” has to soothe anxious thoughts!
Nouwen was a Dutch Jesuit priest, gifted author of numerous books, and professor of theology at Yale Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School.
It’s been reported that during Nouwen’s lifetime, he received over 16,000 letters from people all over the world. Love, Henri includes a hundred or so letters and Nouwen’s insightful responses.
Here is one letter written in 1981, a time of world upheaval. President Reagan and Pope John Paul II were shot; Egyptian President Anwar a-Sadat was assassinated. Martial law was declared in Poland and the first cases of AIDS were reported. Mortgage interest rates in the United States were about 16 percent. Unemployment rates were rising above 7 percent as the nation moved into recession.
A fellow named George asked Nouwen if humanity would survive the next century. Nouwen’s answer rests on his confidence in a greater goodness that’s always present for us…when we take the time to look for it.
Dear George,
I really don’t know if our civilization will survive the century. Considering the growing threat of a nuclear holocaust, there certainly is reason to wonder. But important for me is not if our civilization will survive or not but if we can continue to live with hope, and I really think we can because our Lord has given us His promise that He will stay with us at all times. He is the God of the living; He has overcome evil and death and His love is stronger than any form of death and destruction. That is why I feel that we should continually avoid the temptation of despair and deepen our awareness that God is present in the midst of all the chaos that surround us and that that presence allows us to live joyfully and peacefully in a world so filled with sorrow and conflict.
Please be sure of my prayers for you in these tempting times.
Peace, Henri Nouwen
(Love, Henri)
