'The pressures in the ministry are enormous. The demands are increasing and the satisfactions diminishing. How can we expect to remain full of creative vitality, of zeal for the Word of God, of desire to serve, and of motivation to inspire our often numbered congregations ? Where are we supposed to find nurture and strength? How can we alleviate our own spiritual hunger and thirst?' Henri Nouwen's new book is a word of hope to those who recognize at least in a part of their experience the centrality of the questions he asks above. He invites us to search deeply for the well-springs that nourish true ministry by looking to the example of the fifth-century Egyptian Desert Fathers and Mothers.Their experience in the desert taught them that spiritual survival was possible only if they found a place in their lives for solitude, silence, and prayer.
'Solitude, silence, and unceasing prayer form the core concepts of the spirituality of the desert. Solitude shows us the way to let our behaviour be shaped not by the compulsion of the world but by our new mind, the mind of Christ. Silence prevents us from being suffocated by our wordy world and teaches us to speak the Word of God. Finally, unceasing prayer gives solitude and silence their real meaning. In unceasing prayer, we descend with the mind into the heart. Thus we enter through our heart into the heart of God, who embraces all of history with his eternally creative and recreative love.’ The 'way of the heart' leads us not only to a fuller encounter with God but also to a more creative relationship with our fellow human beings.