I just finished reading "The Way of the Heart" by Henri J.M. Nouwen. This was the first Nouwen I have ever read. It's a very short, easy-to-read and easy-to-understand book, full of great stuff for people who are seeking a transformed life fully surrendered to Jesus Christ.

Nouwen focuses on three things:

1) Solitude which leads to supernatural compassion, where spirituality and ministry meet.

2) Silence, so that our inner fire is protected and so that we do not become driven by the fracas of this world.

3) Prayer ... constant and all-inclusive so that God's heart becomes one with ours.

What a beautiul book this is ... what a beautiful roadmap to a life that is totally commited to our Heavenly Father.

The section on Silence in particular slapped me against the side of my head. While Nouwen is not calling us to cut out our tongues or go live by ourselves in a cave, his admonition to save powerful words for times when they will have a powerful effect and his warning on how talking too much can enter us into the ways of this world in ways we do not want to go really hit me.

I need to keep this book nearby, and refer back to it often.