When I was editor of Youthworker Journal many years ago I conducted a phone interview with the late priest Henri Nouwen for an issue we were doing on personal spirituality (spring 1993). I recently found the mini-cassette of that interview tucked away in a desk drawer and thought I’d make a digital copy of it since old cassettes tend to deteriorate over time.

You can listen to our conversation below. It took place about a year after Marci and I (and six other friends) spent a week with Henri at his residence in L’Arche Daybreak near Toronto, Ontario, Canada in December 1991. We talked a little bit about that time together at the end of the interview.

The topic of this particular interview is prayer and in the magazine we titled the article “Gazing at Jesus: A Conversation with Henri Nouwen.”

While this interview was edited for the magazine article, no editing was done on these audio recordings. I did however break it into four segments. They vary in length, from about seven minutes to more than thirteen. Only the first question is indicated below.

After listening to this 15-year-old conversation again, I am re-challenged to shift some priorities in my life and spend more time with God in prayer. How about you?

If the mp3 audio player is not displaying or functioning properly below, just click on the links and you will hear the interview in your Quicktime or Windows Media Player.

Segment One: “Why is prayer so important?”

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Segment Two: “How do you ‘listen’ to God when you are praying?”

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Segment Three: “What is contemplative prayer?”

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Segment Four: “What is a spiritual director?”

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I received a letter today from Compassion International which is posted below because God may be leading you (as he is Marci and I) to reach out to help the thousands of people who have been impacted by yesterday’s earthquake in Haiti. I have great confidence in Compassion and the good work they do. Anything you or I do to help will be put to good use by the good folks at Compassion.

Years ago I made a trip to Haiti with Tony Campolo and my understanding of poverty was deepened considerably. Never before had I seen such widespread suffering. I can only imagine now what this disaster has done to the people of Haiti and the mission organizations who have been working over the years to serve them. Let’s keep them all in our prayers and if possible, give to help bring some relief.

The text of the letter:

The catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti yesterday has resulted in unfathomable chaos and devastation for hundreds of thousands of children and families.

Compassion sponsors and donors serve more than 65,000 children in Haiti. At least a third of them live in the areas that were hardest hit.

I am asking you to please send a generous gift today to help these precious children and their families.

We are working rapidly to assess the situation and determine the full extent of damage:

* Sadly, we anticipate there will be many deaths.
* We anticipate thousands of children and families will have lost everything.
* We anticipate many of our church-based child development centers will have been destroyed.

Without a doubt, the children we serve in Haiti are in shock and face immediate needs for food, water, medical care, shelter and counseling. We have teams prepared to respond, and we are deeply committed to helping each child.

We need your donation today. Please reach out in the name of Jesus to bring relief, comfort, love and restoration to precious children and families whose lives have been devastated by this crisis.

Thank you for caring,
Mark Hanlon
Dr. Wess Stafford
President, USA

P.S. If you would like to give by phone, please call us at (800) 336-7676. Check donations can be mailed to: Compassion International, Colorado Springs, CO 80997.

I wish I could say that I spent the first full day of the new year doing something constructive or creative but I watched football all day. Three games. Actually I think I watched six or seven football games this week. How many bowl games are there now? I can remember when all of them (Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Orange) all happened on one day, bringing the college football season to a merciful end. But now it goes on and on … which I guess is OK with me since I love the game and enjoy watching if I have the time.

Last night in the Sugar Bowl, the University of Florida’s well-known quarterback Tim Tebow played in his last college football game as he led his Gators team to an easy victory over the Cincinnatti Bearcats.

I’ve not followed Tebow’s career closely, but by all accounts, he’s not only a tremendous quarterback but a dedicated Christ-follower who seems almost too good to be true. Nobody has a bad thing to say about him and he’s unabashedly outspoken about his faith.

It’s not surprising to me that Tebow grew up in a Christian home (his parents were missionaries) and was home schooled even while he played high school football. While not all home-school kids turn out like Tim Tebow, I’ve become increasingly persuaded that parents who home-school their kids are not as over-protective or paranoid as we thought they were. They may instead just be taking more seriously than the rest of us the Biblical imperative to train up their children in the way they should go. Sadly, too many Christian parents are content these days to outsource the upbringing of their children to the government, the popular media, even the church.

As I listened to the young quarterback (who will be headed for the NFL this year) give glory to Christ for his win last night, I couldn’t help but wonder if he will continue to do so as a pro. The TV commentators last night described how his Florida teammates protected him from people and activities that might compromise his reputation. I hope he continues to have those kind of people around him. At least I know he has those kind of parents.

I think we’re about ready for Christmas. All three of our grandchildren were with us a couple weekends ago and we let them hand-make all the Christmas ornaments for our tree this year. Marci bought the crafts supplies and let the kids go crazy. We also hung a few ornaments on the tree that our children (their parents) made when they were little. While we don’t do this every year, it’s a great tradition that makes decorating the tree a lot more fun and meaningful.

Three gifts under our tree: Nick, Madison and Jack.

Well, this song has special meaning for me today.

when-im-64-the-del-mccoury-band

Funny, I don’t really think of myself as that old, but my body gives me a reality check pretty much every day.

A few other 64-year-olds: Steve Martin, Rod Stewart, Pete Townsend, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Tom Sellick, Lou Dobbs, Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Priscilla Presley, Diane Sawyer.

Our son Corey is a very talented artist who will have his drawing and paintings on display this weekend at San Diego’s “Art Walk on the Bay” at Seaport Village. Come check it out Saturday or Sunday from 10 a.m to 5 p.m.

Click on image to make it bigger.

Guess I spent a little too much time at the buffet!

We flew home from London on Saturday night and I’ve been a bit jet lagged and real busy trying to get caught up. We had a great time indulging ourselves on the cruise and the bathroom scale proves it. I gained 10 pounds which isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Back to the low carb diet for me!

I posted about 200 random photos (of the more than 800 I took) on the web.  Just click here to see them. I may add a few more and some captions soon so that you can figure out what you’re looking at. When you take pictures of scenery, it’s hard to tell Amsterdam from Copenhagen after you get home.

Marci at the "Marble Church" Copenhagen

Yesterday we arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark and spent most of the day exploring the city which has some very interesting sights to see. There are lots of tourists, shops and crowded streets. We took a little tour this morning and our guide pointed out some huge churches, mentioned that the Lutheran Church is the official state church and further commented “You might assume that Denmark is a very religious country with a state church and so many churches all over the city but that’s not the case. We are not a religious country. The only religion that is on the increase here is Islam. In fact there is quite a controversy right now regarding a mosque that is going to be built in Copenhagen.”

It truly is sad to go into some of these huge, very ornate church buildings in Copenhagen and see that they have just become tourist attractions and restaurants. I sometimes wonder if the same thing is going to happen in the U.S. if we fail to pass our faith on to our children and grandchildren.

Me with Hans Christian Andersen, Copenhagen

But Copenhagen is a beautiful city and again, there just isn’t time to see it all even though we’ve had two days here have been to most of the tourist attractions (palaces, castles, cathedrals, downtown areas and even the Tivoli Gardens theme park which was Walt Disney’s inspiration for Disneyland.) We’ve taken lots of pictures and when I get home I’ll post a few more here on the web.

We are finished visiting ports (we stopped in seven altogether-Amsterdam, Helskinki, Stockholm, Warnemunde, St. Petersburg, Tallin and Copenhagen) and now we cruise tonight and tomorrow back to England (Harwich) and fly home Saturday from London. We’ve seen a lot of incredible sights and we’ve had a great time with Mary and Gary and their friends who are now our friends. It’s going to be hard to return to normal life without all the good food and people to wait on us hand and foot but I guess that’s what vacations are for. We are amazed and grateful that we actually got to have a real one this year.

The last few days have been incredible. Saturday and Sunday we visited St. Petersburg, the former capitol of Russia. It’s a fascinating city with a lot of history which I discovered I don’t really know much about. The city is beautiful with canals all through the city, much like Amsterdam and Venice. We took a little canal cruise on a longboat to see some of the sights and take a lot of pictures.

The highlight of this trip happened yesterday (Sunday) with our visit to the Hermitage Museum, which is located in one of the many palaces built here by the Russian czars. Like the Louvre in Paris, it is home to some of the world’s greatest art treasures. Ever since Henri Nouwen told us about his pilgrimage to the Hermitage to study and meditate upon Rembrandt’s “Return of the Prodigal Son,” I’ve always wanted to see it myself but never dreamed I ever would. But there it was, just hanging on the wall of the gallery. It was stunning in its beauty and because it has been somewhat iconic for me over the years, it was a spiritually moving experience to see it so close, so big. I wondered what it must have been like for Henri to sit there in that room and gaze upon it for several days in a row and let it speak to him.

We only had a short time in the museum and we had to return to the ship on time so we had to scurry through several other galleries (the Hermitage is HUGE) which had Picassos, Monets, Renoirs, Cezannes, even works by Leonardo da Vinci hanging on the wall and we had to just zip past them without even taking a look. Somehow this experience reminded me of much of my life. Just too busy to stop and enjoy all the beauty all around me. Still, I’m grateful I got to enjoy what I did.

We left St. Petersburg last evening and arrived in Tallin, Estonia this morning (Monday). I don’t think we had even heard of this place until we were invited to come on this cruise but we walked all over its cobblestone streets today. There are probably lots of beautiful places like this we haven’t heard of.

While we did get some rain in St. Petersburg, the weather has been good and the seas have been flat and calm so far although I think that’s changing right now as I write. We’re now on our way to Copenhagen, Denmark and I can feel the ship moving a little more than usual. I may need to take a little Dramamine tonight just in case.

Along with the incredible sights, we’ve been doing some world-class eating and drinking on this trip. We had an amazing meal last night with the group we are traveling with (my sister Mary, her husband Gary and some of their friends) at the best restaurant on the ship. Gary and his friend Robert are wine experts and brought some nice bottles to share. We are definitely going to come back from this trip a few pounds heavier.

I haven’t posted more because the internet access is expensive on board the ship, but hopefully this will keep you updated on where we are and how we’re doing. We’ve been concerned about the hot weather and the fires back home, especially since they are so close to Mary and Gary’s home in La Canada. But we pray every day for our family and friends and hope all of you are doing well.

In Helsinki, Finland

Just got back from a fascinating tour of Helsinki, Finland and some of the surrounding countryside. I’ve learned quite a bit about these Nordic countries that I didn’t know before. I’ve always heard of Finland (like during the Winter Olympics) but otherwise, haven’t paid much attention to it. Despite their long and cold winters, the people here seem to be very proud of their country and wouldn’t live anywhere else.

We also visited Sweden a couple days ago (Stockholm) and enjoyed our short stay there. We had some vodka in an ice bar (everything inside is made of ice, including the glasses you drink from) which was very cool (pun intended). Stockholm is a very picturesque city, especially the old part of town with its cobblestone streets and such.

These have been whirlwind tours so far, only a day in each city. We’ve been typical tourists on this trip, riding on tour buses and walking around town clicking away on our cameras and following guides with their number signs held up so we won’t get lost. We probably look pretty silly (like tourists back home) but I’m sure we are important to their economy so they seem to treat us nice.

Speaking of economy, everything is very expensive. The dollar is not strong compared to the euro and other foreign currency, so we’re unable to contribute much to the local economies over here. Just taking pictures and enjoying the sights.

Marci and I having a cold one!

The weather has been nice so far-no rain and temperatures in the 60′s and low 70′s. From what we heard, the last cruise had awful weather (very rainy) so we’ve been lucky.

We’re continuing to enjoy this trip very much which has been a gift to us in more ways than one. There are times when I don’t feel that we belong here (most of the people who “cruise” are people with a lot of money and expensive tastes) but we’re making the most of it-pretending that we fit right in.

Tonight we travel to St. Petersburg, Russia. I’m looking forward to our visit to the Hermitage Museum where Rembrandt’s “Return of the Prodigal” is on display. I have a print hanging in my office at home so it will be amazing to see the real thing.