For my next trick I plan to digest a book.
Right here. In full view.
It’s not large, but thankfully it’s very sweet.
“Following Jesus: Finding Our Way Home in an Age of Anxiety” was published recently, many moons after the author, Henri J.M. Nouwen, passed on. (He claimed the J.M. in his name stood for “Just Me.”)
As I read the book I put sticky notes on pages that had memorable quotes.
I ran out of sticky notes — literally.
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So rather than write a book review, I’ve decided to give you my “Reader’s Digest” version of the thing.
Here’s the whole book in 400 words.
Numbers refer to pages in the hardbound edition.
Chapter One:
“We need to listen to people who are not necessarily easy to listen to.” (24)
“We have to listen to the people in our lives, even the broken ones, and take them very seriously.” (25)
Chapter Two:
“What we hold on to always diminishes. What we give away always multiplies. It is the great illogic.” (42)
“Every disciple reflects something special of God’s love.” (49)
“God’s love is so rich and broad that it takes many people to make it visible.” (49)
Chapter Three:
“Help me to be here with a heart open to suffering, a mind open to understanding and a will ready to follow.” (51)
“I give a sermon about humility and the first question I ask myself is whether people liked it!” (54)
“Long before we talk about original sin or original rejection, we should speak of God’s original love. (57)
“If we have dark forces in us, we will see dark forces all over the place.” (63)
“We know that God loves us. We can trust our knowledge and eventually our feelings will catch up.” (69)
Chapter Four:
“The invitation to suffer with God is probably the most profound thing that we see in the Christian tradition.” (80)
“Often, it seems as if we are always willing to carry another type of cross than the one we already have.” (81)
Chapter Five:
“Joy is connected to newness. No one ever says ‘Oh, there’s the old joy again.’ No! There is old sorrow, but there is no old joy. Joy is always new.” (96)
Chapter Six:
“Be Attentive. Be Attentive. Be Attentive.” (128)
“If our only concern is ... to change a person or the world, or the country, or the politics, or the social condition — if change is the condition of service — we are going to be very bitter and very soon.” (130)
“Service is an act of gratitude.” (130)
“We have come to the end of what I wanted to share with you about following Jesus. May my words be little seeds planted in your heart. Don’t worry now what it was all worth, but trust that a seed has been planted.” (132)
Email: jerjohn@deseretnews.com
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Jerry Earl Johnston: How to digest a sweet book - Deseret News
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