Sabbatical Journey by Henry Nouwen
Williams, Bill
HE WILL BE HISSED Sabbatical Journey Henrt/Nouwen Bill Williams B^BB*J enry Nouwen was regard-I ^H I ed by some as one of the I LS| I finest spiritual writers of ¦¦¦¦¦ our time. His sudden death...
...His views on homosexuality changed, too, although his thoughts and feelings remained "very conflicted...
...God is where we are weak, vulnerable, and dependent...
...Reflecting on the lives of his many friends who were homosexuals, he came to believe that "homosexuality is not a curse but a blessing for our society...
...Three weeks after completing the sabbatical, he died of heart failure at age sixty-four...
...Where is God...
...Readers will marvel at the breadth of Nouwen's interests, from world affairs, music, and sports, to movies, poetry, and his great love for the Flying Rodleighs, a group of South African trapeze artists...
...Sabbatical Year also touches on themes developed in earlier books—particularly Nouwen's strong conviction that God's love can become manifest in suffering...
...he asks...
...I could live another thirty years...
...Yet during the year he was drawn into a frantic cycle of weddings, funerals, and visits...
...This journal reveals much about the heart and mind of a theologian who has touched the lives of millions, reminding us of the generosity of spirit and strength of Christian hope that marked Henry Nouwen's entire life...
...Yet Nouwen's loneliness, what he called "his inner wound," never went away...
...The tension between his need to be with friends and his desire for quiet persisted...
...The sabbatical year was spent at the homes of two friends, one in Massachusetts and one in New Jersey, where Nouwen had hoped to have lots of free time to pray and write...
...With the encouragement of his friends in the L'Arche Daybreak community in Toronto, Nouwen took a one-year sabbatical to write and reflect...
...He feels abandoned, forgotten, and shadowed by a constant fear of rejection...
...Or do I hope to be united with Christ sooner...
...Again and again he writes of his emotional vulnerability and insatiable need for friendship, a need so strong that he does not fully understand it...
...Nouwen began his year off with mixed feelings...
...As a young man he thought that there was no salvation outside the Catholic church...
...Commonweal 2 4 January 15,1999...
...We learn much about Nouwen's evolving views on church issues...
...Nouwen was, of course, famously prolific, so it comes as no surprise that new books by him continue to be published posthumously...
...Bill Williams is letters editor and religion book reviewer for the Hartford Courant...
...The warnings seem clear, yet neither Nouwen nor his friends picked up on the signs...
...Do I want to live that long...
...Characteristically, Nouwen is utterly open about his emotional vulnerability...
...Astonishingly, he never thought to see a doctor...
...In the book's foreword, Sue Mosteller notes that the original, unedited journal (it was cut in half for this book), mentioned more than 1,000 people in friendship, 600 by name...
...He became close friends with them, filled several notebooks with material about them, and intended to write a book about the group...
...Sabbatical journey is must reading for Nouwen fans and a fine introduction to the man for the uninitiated...
...God is where the poor are, the hungry, the handicapped, the mentally ill, the elderly, the powerless...
...November 24: "I still do not understand why I keep being so exhausted...
...On September 11, less than two weeks into his sabbatical, he writes: "Everything requires an immense effort, and after a Commonweal % 3 January 15,1999 few hours of work I collapse in utter exhaustion...
...Addicted to being busy," he wondered if he could let go of his pastoral and social entanglements...
...he writes in December...
...Hauntingly, he complains about constant exhaustion and fatigue...
...The regular travel left him tired and confused...
...Nouwen, of course, had numerous close and supportive friends...
...Five months into his sabbatical, he feels "like a hungry ghost: hungry for attention and affection—telephone calls, letters, and so on...
...He came to believe, however, that while "Jesus came to open the door to God's house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not...
...How much longer will I live...
...June 13: "Everything exhausts me, even putting on my clothes...
...Sabbatical Journey is the journal account he kept during that break, from September 2, 1995, until August 30,1996...
...His sudden death in 1996 left his many readers and friends bereft...
Vol. 126 • January 1999 • No. 1
