Good Monday Afternoon Everyone –
Jason and I hope that your first step into our new book, “The Road to Daybreak” by Henri Nouwen, has been a good one. I read this book years ago, and this past week, as I experienced it again, I was struck anew by how deeply thoughtful Nouwen is when it comes to the inner journey of faith and discipleship. He never shies away from speaking exactly what he feels. He never minces any words to spare himself, or us – as his readers – any embarrassment.
The fact that Nouwen was able to make the decision to leave the success and influence he was enjoying at Harvard to join a small community where handicapped people are the center of daily life, is more convicting to me than I can say. When he writes about people who go to school to learn how to be skilled in “helping professions” (such as doctors, counselors, or ministers) more out of a drive to achieve personal success and admiration than to primarily use their skills to actually help others, it convicts me to the very core. It forces me to reassess why I went into full-time ministry in the first place…to use it as a ladder to climb, or to help people as its own reward? What kind of subtle lies have I possibly been telling myself without even realizing it?
I know that it can be a challenge to read someone else’s private thoughts in a journal. “The Road to Daybreak” is a very different experience for the reader than “Peace Like A River.” It has very little narrative to hold the various entries together, and yet it is a compelling story nonetheless…the story of one man’s spiritual transformation. It is that amazing tale of personal change that keeps me coming back for more. I hope that each of you feel something of the same thing.
I thought that the best way to get us to interact online would be to post a few quotes from the first 5 chapters of the book, and ask you to weigh in on them.
Quote #1:
“Many mentally handicapped people experience themselves as a disappointment to their parents, a burden to their families, a nuisance to their friends. To believe that anyone really cares and really loves them is difficult.” (pg. 19)
- I believe that more people than just handicapped people “experience themselves as a disappointment” to the people around them. What do you think Nouwen means with this phrase? Why do you think that many of us struggle with this sense of being a disappointment to the people in our lives? Why is it difficult for some of us to truly believe that the people in our lives who profess to care about us and love us really mean it? How can we overcome this nagging sense of self-doubt?
Quote #2:
“The remarkable thing…is that sitting in the presence of God for one hour each morning – day after day, week after week, month after month – in total confusion and with myriad distractions radically changes my life…I might think that each hour is useless, but after 30 or 60 or 90 such useless hours, I gradually realize that I was not as alone as I thought; a very small, gentle voice has been speaking to me far beyond my noisy place.” (pg. 30)
- You and I may not spend 1 hour each morning trying to pray, trying to quiet ourselves in the presence of God, but most of us probably try to do that at least 10 minutes each day. Have you found that you also struggle with feeling like that time is “useless?” What are the challenges we face when we try and have a regular quiet time with God? Have you ever experienced the truth that Nouwen is sharing in these words…that after some time, those many quiet times of distraction have actually been worthwhile to your spiritual life all along anyway?
Quote #3:
“When handicapped people pray for handicapped people, God comes very near.” (pg. 37)
- One of the central themes of this book is that while some people are physically handicapped in obvious ways, we are all handicapped in one way or another, many times in invisible ways that only we know about. Another way to say what Nouwen is trying to say here is, “When hurting and broken people pray for hurting and broken people, God comes very near.” In what ways do you know that Nouwen is right when he says this? How have your own prayer experiences with others proved his statement true?
Quote #4:
When Raymond, a handicapped man in the Daybreak community, is hit by a car, Nouwen joins everyone else in asking God to watch over him and be good to him as his life hangs in the balance. Nouwen and some others get the chance to meet with Raymond’s parents, who are understandably heartbroken and confused. Nouwen writes, “When we all came together in our common concern for Raymond, we were able to express our feelings to each other…soon a new community developed. Raymond’s father said… ‘You are as much fathers to Raymond as I am,’ and thus acknowledged our pain. We were able to understand why he had not always been grateful for the work Daybreak had done for his son, and thus acknowledged his deep anguish. Raymond’s situation remains critical. We do not even know if he will survive the night. But all those who love him are united and support each other in their struggle…and that certainly is a tangible way in which God has responded to our prayers.” (pg. 42)
- When Nouwen claims that God’s action of creating peace between the Daybreak community and Raymond’s father is a tangible response to their prayers for God to be good to Raymond…do you agree with his, or do you think that Nouwen is too easily letting God of the hook? Try to be as open and honest here as possible.
Quote #5:
“It is not so much the ability to think, to reflect, to plan, or to produce that makes us different from the rest of creation, but the ability to trust. It is the heart that makes us truly human.” (pg. 48)
- I’d like to hear your responses to Nouwen’s claim here about what it means to be truly human. He says that above all, it is our ability to trust. To trust in God and in one another. Do you agree or disagree? If trust truly is so central to our human existence and experience, why do you think it is so hard to live lives of trust?
I know that this is an awful lot to consider, reflect on, and respond to. It is not my intent to overwhelm us on our very first week of sharing about this book. If it makes it easier, just pick one quote above to interact with. And perhaps more than anything, please share a quote or thought for the first 50 pages of this book that have really stayed with you. I look forward to your comments.
Jarrod
