HENRY NOUWEN ON 'PRAYER'

PRAYER as  THE ONLY NECESSARY THING

 

Since Henri Nouwen's death in 1996,  his Henri Nouwen Society has continued to make access to his writings, etc. available;  in the book THE ONLY NECESSARY THING:  Living a Prayerful Life, we are greeted with an INVITATION on page 25 that is worth pondering:

 

"The invitation to a life of prayer is the invitation to live in the midst of this world without being caught in the net of wounds and needs.   The word "prayer" stands for a radical interruption of the vicious chain of interlocking dependencies leading to violence and war and for an entering into a totally new dwelling place.   It points to a new way of speaking, a new way of breathing, a new way of being together,  a new way of knowing, yes, a whole new way of living.

 

It is not easy to express the radical change that prayer represents, since for many the word "prayer" is associated with piety, talking to God, thinking about God, morning and evening exercises, Sunday services, grace before meals, sentences from the Bible, and many other things.   All of these have something to do with prayer, but when I speak about prayer .... I speak first of all about moving away from the dwelling place of those who hate peace into the house of God .....  Prayer is the center of the Christian life.   It is the only necessary thing (Luke 10:42).   It is living with God here and now."