We Drink from Our Own Wells: The Spiritual Journey of a People

by Henri J. M. Nouwen, Matthew J. O'Connell (Translator), Gustavo Gutierrez

Overview

After twenty years, We Drink from Our Own Wells remains a classic expression of Latin American spirituality by a pioneer of liberation theology. Starting from St. Bernard of Clairvaux's counsel to root spirituality in one's own experience, Gustavo Gutierrez outlines the contours of a spirituality rooted in the experience of the poor and their struggle for life. His aim is to reflect on the contemporary "road to holiness" -- the passage of a people "through the solitude and dangers of the desert, as it carves out its own way in the following of Jesus Christ. This spiritual experience is the well from which we must drink. From it we draw the promise of resurrection."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781570754968
Publisher:	Orbis Books
Publication date:	09/28/2003
Edition description:	Anniversary
Pages:	210
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.24(h) x 0.47(d)

Table of Contents

	Abbreviations	vi
	Foreword	vii
	Preface to the Anniversary Edition: Our Methodology is Our Spirituality	xvii
	Introduction	1
Part 1	How Shall We Sing to the Lord in a Foreign Land?	7
1.	In a Foreign Land	9
	An Alien World	9
	Questions	13
	New Wine in Old Bottles	16
2.	The Song of the Poor	19
	A Favorable Time	20
	Toward a New Spirituality	25
Part 2	Here There Is No Longer Any Way	33
3.	Encounter with the Lord	35
	Spirituality and Theology	35
	See, Touch, Follow	38
	Acknowledging the Messiah	45
	Encounter, Experience, Reflection, Prolongation	52
4.	Walking According to the Spirit	54
	The Flesh of Death	55
	The Spirit of Life	61
	The Resurrection Body	64
5.	A People in Search of God	72
	The Spirituality of a People	73
	A Manner of Being a Christian	83
Part 3	Free to Love	91
6.	Conversion: A Requirement for Solidarity	95
	Break and Solidarity	96
	The Material and the Spiritual	102
	Consistency and Stubbornness	104
7.	Gratuitousness: The Atmosphere for Efficacy	107
	Efficacious Love	107
	Everything Is Grace	109
	A Twofold Movement	112
8.	Joy: Victory Over Suffering	114
	Schooling in Martyrdom	115
	Easter Joy	117
9.	Spiritual Childhood: A Requirement for Commitment to the Poor	122
	With the Poor and against Poverty	123
	The World of the Poor	124
	Spiritual Childhood	126
10.	Community: Out of Solitude	128
	The Dark Night of Injustice	129
	Living in Community	131
	Conclusion	136
	Notes	138
	Index of Scriptural References	173
	Index of Names and Sources	177