Henry left Notre Dame after two years and went to Yale where he intended to teach in pastoral ministry. He was rethinking psychology as a foundation and wanted to weave personal spiriuality back into pastoral ministry. His contribution to the life of the school was profound as he taught on ministry to prisoners and the elderly, on ministry in secular institutions, on disciplship, on ministry and spirituality, on the ministry of Vincent van Gogh, on prayer, and on Thomas Merton. He spent more time with students than any other fculty member and continued to express his high value of personal relationship and ministry. He was tenured by ae in 1974, just 3 years after his arrival. During his time at Yale he met Thomas Merton who would influence Nouwen tremendously. Merton was spiritually creative and saw prayer as a way of seeing and expression. Henry taught a class on Merton which he revised into this book, whic was published in 1972. During this part of his spiritual journey, psychology was receeding and was being supplanted by creativity, contemplation, and engagement in spiritual life.
This second book of Nouwen was published while he was still at Notre Dame. In it, he explores the ideas of teaching, preaching, counseling, organizing and celebrating as primary responsibilities of ministry. He follows his first book “Intimacy” with similar themes of spiritual community and deep personal connection and offers a deeply spiritual and relational lens through which the minister must think about the roles and process of ministry.
At first, “Intimacy” seems like a disjointed collection of experiences and relational contexts. Nouwen wrote this book, his first, while at Notre Dame. The common thread in all of the stories is, of course, intimacy; indeed, for him, the drive and passion to deeply connect with self, God, and others. Many of the themes that provide a backdrop for the late 60′s – existentialism, poverty, war and peace, anti-establishment sentiments, and psychology, were the same themes that greatly impacted my life in the early 70′s while in college. I identify so strongly with Nouwen and I hope through this journey to find out the depth and breadth of why. Much of the book is beginning dance moves of psychology and theology, a movement in theme that will weave in and through the life and writings of this man. This same theme is the one constant current in my own spiritual journey. What is incarnational consciousness and how does it manifest in humanity and relationship? I am already awed at this man…one of the things he will say later in his book “Wounded Healer” is that we must become articulators of the inner life. That is, able to put that inner dance of spirit and flesh into words and share it with others. It is often embarassing to dance in front of others, but it is the beginnings of intimacy.
This is the first book written by Henri Nouwen and was published in 1969. The book is a reflection on his life experiences during his two years at Notre Dame, from 1966-1968. As Nouwen says in the introduction, “the sources of the following chapters are many: teaching, counseling, chatting, partying, celebrating, and most of all just being around.” The 1960′s were a volitle time on most college campuses as students reacted to the Viet Nam war, segregation, and poverty. Nouwen writes, “this book can be considered a book about the inner life. It does not deal with [these issues]. But it tries to deal directly wth what is underlying all these problems…man’s…desire for a real home in this world.” In this context, intimacy is explored between man and woman, man and man, people in religious community, congregational leadership, and people with God.
