Dear Friends,
Despite its bustle and busyness, Christmas really can be the most wonderful time of the year. For people of faith, people like you and me, Christmas is a time of intense joy as we remember and celebrate the Incarnation. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
When my children were little, Christmas was a time for connecting with family and friends. It was a time for carol singing, exchanging gifts, and going to church together. Christ was, and still remains, the center of our Christmases.
For many people of my generation, family dynamics - especially family faith dynamics - have changed significantly. I have had many conversations with close friends whose grown children have moved away from the church, away from their childhood faith, and away from any sort of religious considerations whatsoever.
For them, perhaps all of life - not just Christmas - is full of bustle and busyness.
Although it's painful to see young people detach from their faith traditions, this is where Henri Nouwen can have a tremendous impact. Henri's gift is one of profound simplicity. He can make the most perplexing spiritual concept easy to comprehend. The nature of truth is that it resonates. It reaches into those empty, hollow spaces within our hearts and takes root. That's why Henri, more than twenty years after his death, speaks so effectively to Millennials and Post-Millennials.
Henri's words speak to every generation.
I am more and more convinced that Henri Nouwen offers a side door, so to speak, to God's kingdom. Those who are uncomfortable or uninterested in the church of their parents and grandparents often find something irresistible in Henri's depth, vulnerability, and honesty. Henri's writings have a way of reviving a spiritual hunger that longs to be fed and nurtured.
The Henri Nouwen Society has been making significant inroads in connecting with young people through youth retreats and campus book-study groups. Last year we created a Young People's Advisory Committee to help us plan activities and events to reach youth who are looking for spiritual direction and resources.
From what I have seen, this younger generation longs to reconnect to God and find God's purposes for their lives. They want meaning, they want something other than the end goals offered by culture and society.
Your support will enable us to expand our outreach to young people while sustaining our other vital initiatives.
This Christmas season, please consider a donation, or invest in our various outreaches by becoming a monthly donor. We are so grateful for your gifts and to have you partner with us to extend the work and ministry of the Henri Nouwen Society.
On behalf of everyone at the Henri Nouwen Society, I wish you a very meaningful and blessed Christmas and a happy New Year.
Faithfully,
Karen Pascal,
Executive Director
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