Pray (the way)

Alrighty, let's finish up my highlights from Henri Nouwen's great little book 'The Way of the Heart: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers.' He suggests three ways to life in the Spirit. We've covered Solitude and Silence. Today is on Prayer. 

"To pray always -- this is the real purpose of the desert life... The Desert Fathers did not think of solitude as being alone, but as being alone with God. They did not think of silence as not speaking, but as listening to God. Solitude and silence are the context within which prayer is practiced." (69)

"The literal translation of the words 'pray always' is 'come to rest.' The Greek word for rest is hesychia, and hesychasm is a term which refers to the spirituality of the desert. A hesychast is a man or woman who seeks solitude and silence as the ways to unceasing prayer. The prayer of the hesychasts is a prayer of rest. This rest, however, has little to do with the absence of conflict or pain. It is a rest in God in the midst of a very intense daily struggle." (69-70)

"One of these demonic ruses is to make us think of prayer primarily as an activity of the mind that involves above all else our intellectual capacities. This prejudice reduces prayer to speaking with God or thinking about God...

...For many of us prayer means nothing more than speaking with God. And since it usually seems to be a quite one-sided affair, prayer simply means talking to God. This idea is enough to create great frustrations. If I present a problem, I expect a solution; if I formulate a question, I expect an answer; if I ask for guidance, I expect a response. And when it seems, increasingly, that I am talking into the dark, it is not so strange that I soon begin to suspect that my dialogue with God is in fact a monologue. Then I may begin to ask myself: To whom am I really speaking, God or myself?" (72)

"The crisis of our prayer life is that our minds may be filled with ideas of God while our hearts remain far from him. Real prayer comes from the heart. It is about this prayer of the heart that the Desert Fathers teach us." (75)

"Russian mystic Theophan the Recluse: 'To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there to stand before the face of the Lord, ever-present, all-seeing, within you.'" (76)

"...the word heart in the Jewish-Christian tradition refers to the source of all physical, emotional, intellectual, volitional, and moral energies." (77)

"The most profound insight of the Desert Fathers is that entering into the heart is entering into the kingdom of God." (77-78)

"The prayer of the heart is indeed the way to the purity of heart that gives us eyes to see the reality of our existence. This purity of heart allows us to see more clearly, not only our own needy, distorted, and anxious self but also the caring face of our compassionate God. When that vision remains clear and sharp, it will be possible to move into the midst of a tumultuous world with a heart at rest. It is this restful heart that will attract those who are groping to find their way through life. When we have found our rest in God we can do nothing other than minister. God's rest will be visible wherever we go and whoever we meet." (90)

Yeah... as with Silence, and so many things, this is difficult stuff to explain to someone. Maybe that means I don't understand it so well myself. Yet, as he somewhat infers, it's one of those things you can mostly just see, or get. Like, you may not know what you're looking for exactly, but when you see it you know.

 

As for the book as a whole... I must confess, I was somewhat disappointed from the aspect that I was looking more for information and teaching ABOUT the Desert Fathers and Mothers themselves. That is not Nouwen's fault that he doesn't give that.

As for the content of the book, it's difficult for me to ever be disappointed in anything Henri has shared. His heart comes through, and that is what I need to see more of, and likely the rest of the world does too. It's a short read (94 pages), and makes me feel so warm and content. Like I said in the first post, I will likely read this book again and again.