"The premise of this book is that God is always speaking to us -- individually and as the people of God -- at different times and in many ways: through dreams and visions, prophets and messengers, scripture and tradition, experience and reason, nature and events. And that discernment is the spiritual practice that accesses and seeks to understand what God is trying to say. The books we read, the nature we enjoy, the people we meet, and the events we experience contain within themselves signs of God's presence and guidance day by day." from the Preface
Sections of The Power of Memory and The Mystery of Memory
from Chapter Eight Opening Your Heart:Discerning Divine Presence
Although memory brings the painful past closer in the present, it also creates a deep desire for reunion with those I remember and for reconciliation with what is past. The power of memory is not only that it allows me to relive the past but also that it transforms the past in the present and the future. For example, I feel closely related to many friends who have died. I remember them in faith and expectation that I will see them again. The memory of those I love makes me desire a reunion, a new encounter face-to-face. In some mysterious way, in the absence of a loved one from the past, I sense a spiritual closeness in the present that prepares me for a reunion in the future that is deeper and fuller than their presence in the past or their presence in the present. I can even say that I must remember those in the past to make full reunion possible in the future. Their memory is in a certain sense preparation for seeing them again. Remembering grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters, and friends who have died or gone away is not just some sentimental, pious custom of those who can't move on; it is the continuation of a relationship that still exists and has yet to come to fulfillment. Indeed it is the Spirit of Christ that tells us there is a coming reunion more profound than the relationship in the past or present. Would it be true to say that remembering a friend or family member in death allows for a spiritual communion to develop that was not fully realized during their physical presence? Can we say that memory unites us in spirit with a connection deeper than physical union? If so, we must confess that bodily presence not only reveals the real person to us but also hides the real person from us. One's physical presence both reveals and hides the deeper, more authentic self that I desire to encounter. In physical absence, the spiritual presence is no longer blocked. This mystery sheds new light on life and death. Being fully alive means being truly present to God and others as best we can. Dying means not only leaving but also entering into a more intimate relationship and a deeper spiritual presence than was possible during physical life.
If remembering a loved one who has died sometimes brings one closer to the spiritual reality or essence of his or her presence in memory, then the memory of Christ likewise brings me closer to Jesus than even his physical presence on earth could do. His death, his leaving me behind, has made it possible to receive his Spirit and to live in and with him always. The memory of Christ brings me into spiritual communion with him and with his body, the church. This insight gives power and meaning to the words of Jesus "It is good for you that I go because unless I go, the Advocate will not come" (John 16:7). In the memory of Jesus, we receive his Spirit and enter into a mysterious communion with him that is deeper and more intimate than if he had been with us physically and historically. In the very act of remembering Christ, we not only recall the past reality but somehow see Christ in the future event.
The Henri Nouwen Society has lots of information:
www.henrinouwen.org
