Some weeks back I found myself on a Henri Nouwen kick, and I purchased a batch of his book titles in one fell-swoop. Nouwen was, in case you don't know, a Catholic priest who wrote some amazing books for pastors and lay persons alike--devotional titles, as well as theological works that have held up over time. He worked as a cruise ship chaplain (what a gig!), a parish priest, and also a chaplain to the mentally and physically disabled. A well-rounded guy.
Last night I began praying his The Book of Hours, which is actually a compilation of his work fashioned into a Cistercian model of daily prayer: where monks rise at 3 a.m. to pray, and close their day at 7:30 p.m. with vespers to the holy Mother.
I've never been an hours kind of guy (what idiot, for example, would rise at 3 a.m. to do anything?) and the thought of praying through the day on the hours isn't something I've ever done . . . coffee each hour, well, that's another story. Still, Nouwen's little book has some nicely-woven thoughts and prayers and I will use them (though on my schedule, not the monks').
I wonder if Nouwen wrote any of his book after midnight, or was he sleeping so he could get up at 3 a.m.?
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