Listening for God's direction

Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life
Henri J.M. Nouwen
with Michael J. Christiansen and Rebecca J. Laird
HarperOne, 2013

Have you ever thought seriously about the word discernment?

Try this: “Discernment is faithful living and listening to God’s love and direction so that we can fulfill our individual calling and shared mission.” It comes from the pen, not the keyboard, of Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932–1996). Nouwen couldn’t type or handle e-mail, but almost every day wrote personal letters in a beautiful calligraphic script.

It was Nouwen’s compact little book The Return of the Prodigal Son, inspired by Rembrandt’s painting in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, that first sparked the interest of many readers in Nouwen’s writing (see “Life lessons from a Rembrandt painting,” Sentinel, November 18, 2002). Since then, people have eagerly latched onto the work of this world-renowned mentor, pastor, guide, and author of more than 40 books on spirituality.

Nouwen counseled many people on the topic of discernment, but never before have his teachings been collected into a single document. Now, one of his longtime students, Michael Christiansen, and Christiansen’s wife, Rebecca Laird, have drawn on Nouwen’s journals and unpublished writings spanning 25 years to create a comprehensive review of Nouwen’s insights into spiritual discernment.

This book is the third in a series that includes Spiritual Direction (see “New views of Henri Nouwen,” Sentinel, February 12, 2007) and Spiritual Formation, which were developed primarily from lecture notes and the courses he taught at Yale and Harvard.

In their preface, the compilers of Discernment explain that their premise is that God is always speaking to us individually, at different times and in many ways. Discernment, they say, “is the spiritual practice that accesses and seeks to understand what God is trying to say.”

They suggest that when we are rooted in prayer and solitude and form part of a community of faith, we are led to find answers to spiritual questions, which help us live a better life “in a world with too many easy answers, conflicting movements, and confusing signs.”

Unsurprisingly, they turn to Nouwen for a solution: “Be committed to a life of unceasing prayer and contemplation, a life of deep communion with the Spirit of God.”

This new compilation is divided into three main sections: Embracing discernment alone or with others; seeking guidance in books, nature, people, and events; and exploring discernment’s relation to vocation, identity, and time (especially patience).

And if your curiosity is now aroused, here is a sample from each section:

• Walking in the woods with my eyes and heart open offer[s] a reminder that a walk with a friend can remind us of God’s presence and peace even in the midst of confusing times.
• My deeper vocation [was] to announce God’s love for all people. ... my final destination is not a place; it is God’s eternal embrace. ... I can be with anyone at any place and enjoy the goodness, beauty, and love I see while remaining at home with my God.
• There is a time to act, a time to wait, and a time to be led. ... Active waiting is being open to the promise yet to be fulfilled.

And this might just be a time to be grateful for the insights—and discernment—of a thinker such as Henri Nouwen!