Henri J.M. Nouwen, one of the great spiritual writers of the modern times, has influenced my personal spirituality and writing skill. He has helped me to see grace in my brokenness and ordinariness. He has also effected simplicity and clarity in my writing skill.
A few days ago, I decided again to read one of his books entitled Beyond the Mirror. In the first pages of this book, he wrote about interruptions. “Books and articles have been important in my search for God, but it has been the interruptions to everyday life that have most revealed to me the divine mystery of which I am a part,” he wrote.
The word “interruptions” in this piece is one that connected deeply with me, albeit recently I called interruptions “crises” because they occurred to me as unpleasant and unexpected problems or struggles in life, as in the case of a recent fire incident in my parish.
Nouwen received from God the gift to see grace beyond any interruption. He wrote: “Each interruption invited me to look in a new way at my identity with God. Each interruption took something away from me; each interruption offered something new. Beyond the success of teaching was the inner peace of solitude and community; beyond the bond with my mother was the maternal presence of God; beyond the comforts of North America were the smiles of the children of God in Bolivia and Peru; beyond the academic career was the vocation to touch God in whose minds and bodies are broken; beyond a very nurturing friendship was the communion with a God who asked for every part of my heart.”
During the time of this writing, Nouwen was reflecting on the series of interruptions that had gone by in his own life: the death of his mother, his confrontation with poverty in Latin America, his call to live with mentally handicapped people, and the breakage of a deep friendship. All these had created instability in his life, but at the same time had led him to deeper experiences of grace.
I thought of the impending loss of my father as I reflected on Nouwen’s thoughts. Absolutely, it will be a painful “interruption”, but deep in my heart are feelings of relief and hope that my ailing father will finally rest from four years of heavy struggle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), will find peace in God, and will finally reunite with his beloved wife, my mother.
I know that it is not easy to deal with interruptions for they create havoc and anxieties. But having the attitude that there is a great experience of grace that awaits us beyond any interruption will calm our fears and worries.
This Sunday’s First Reading from Proverbs is about the need to seek understanding. “Forsake foolishness that you may live, advance in the way of understanding,” the book says. Indeed, may we advance in understanding that there is grace beyond any experience of troubling interruption!
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Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For twenty years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. Since 2002, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].
