Search results for ""author henri nouwen""

In times of suffering, simple answers often ring empty and hollow--so how can you find hope in hard times? Learn how to survive the difficult seasons with the comfort and of God's constancy. With sensitive, practical advice, Henri Nouwen gently points you towards a life that is grounded in God’s companionship and rooted within eternal hope. In this newly formatted edition, Turn My Mourning into Dancing discusses five movements we experience during hard times: From Our Little Selves to a Larger World From Holding Tight to Letting Go From Fatalism to Hope From Manipulation to Love From a Fearful Death to a Joyous Life Nouwen has discovered that healing begins with taking our pain out of its toxic isolation and seeing our sufferings in communion with all humanity and all creation. He teaches us that our little lives participate in something much larger. Turn My Mourning into Dancing is compelling reading for: Those looking for growth and insight amid life’s hard and harsh moments Anyone grieving and searching for reassurance Anyone who has experienced a loss or betrayal Though it may not last forever, grief is a gradual, organic process that changes a person permanently. Nouwen guides you during your hard times toward answers and hope--hope that allows you to dance even through the darkest night.

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Henri Nouwen, beloved author, priest and world-famous counsellor and guide, understood the spiritual life as a journey of faith and transformation, that is deepened by accountability, community and relationships. Though he counselled many people during his lifetime, his principles of spiritual direction were never written down. However, two of his longtime students, Michael Christensen and Rebecca Laird, have taken his famous course in spiritual direction and supplemented it with his unpublished writings to create the definitive work on Nouwen’s thoughts about the Christian life. ‘Everyone who knew Henri Nouwen knew that his spirit was too large, too life-giving to be defeated by death. This book is proof positive that his spirit lives on, offering many who never met Henri a chance to meet him now.’ Parker J. Palmer, author of A Hidden Wholeness ‘Along with rich storytelling and moments of sharp insight, Nouwen offers a structured and highly disciplined approach to spiritual direction, not so much anchored in method as in meditation and surrender . . . Nouwen’s gift is to shatter the barriers between God and ourselves, inviting us to come home again like prodigals.’ America Magazine ‘This is a brilliant addition to Nouwen's canon of work as a writer and will enrich both long-time Nouwen fans and newcomers to his wisdom.’ Publishers Weekly

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'An absolute gift to mind and soul.' Phyllis Tickle, author of Emergence Christianity Henri Nouwen's legacy of spirtual writings drawn from his own experience of loneliness, depression, exhaustion and struggles with discerning God's calling on his life, continues to offer guidance and reassurance to the prodigal heart seeking the road home to the Father God's ready acceptance and loving embrace. From his life alongside the disabled in the l'Arche Daybreak community, Toronto the world-renowned spiritual guide and counsellor learned to understand the spiritual life as a journey of faith and transformation that is deepened by accountability, community, and relationships. Though Henri counselled many people during his lifetime, his principles of discernment were never collected into a single volume. Now, in association with the Nouwen Legacy Trust, Michael Christensen - one of Nouwen's longtime students - and Rebecca Laird his coursework, journals, and unpublished writings are collected to create the definitive resource on spiritual discernment. In these pages, Henri Nouwen emphasizes listening to the Word of God - in our hearts, in the Bible, in the community of faith, and in the voice of the poor as a way to discern God's plan 'For most people, the very word discernment implies something heady, private and maybe even elitist. Henri Nouwen, as always, makes seemingly complex things personal, practical, intelligent and very readable - all at the same time! This is a rich and helpful book.' Richard Rohr, author of Falling Upward 'Nouwen artfully explores how nature, our neighbours and our own hearts reveal God's active presence all around us. Life-giving and beautiful, yet practical and wise, he invites all those who doubt, feel lost, wounded or broken to discover the beating heart of love at the centre of the world.' Diana Butler Bass, author of Christianity After Religion

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Finding Faith in a Time of SorrowBeloved author Henri Nouwen reflects on the spiritual significance of death and life in this moving meditation dedicated to all those who suffer the pain that death can bring and who search for new life.

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‘Spiritual formation, I have come to believe, is not about steps or stages on the way to perfection. It’s about the movements from the mind to the heart through prayer in its many forms that reunite us with God, each other, and our truest selves.’ Henri Nouwen, from the introduction Henri Nouwen, beloved author, priest and spiritual guide, counseled many people during his lifetime, but his principles of spiritual formation were never written down. Now, Michael Christensen, one of Nouwen’s longtime students, and Rebecca Laird have taken his famous course in spiritual formation and supplemented it with his unpublished writings to reveal Nouwen’s sage advice on how to live out the five classic stages of spiritual development. ‘I always knew I was in the presence of a spiritual master when I was with Henri Nouwen. Here are some simple, wise words that will allow the master to continue to teach.’ Richard Rohr, author of The Divine Dance ‘One of the book’s many strengths is its integration of an area especially important to Nouwen, the contemplation of icons and other works of art – visio divina – in order ‘to behold the beauty of the Lord’.’ Jim Forest, author of Praying with Icons and The Road to Emmaus

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'I am very grateful for Carolyn Whitney-Brown's accurate account of my brother Henri's inner feelings, hopes, wishes and despair. You brought Henri very close to me again.’ LAURENT NOUWEN, FOUNDER OF THE HENRI NOUWEN FOUNDATION 'Anyone who knew Henri, either through his writing or in person, will immediately recognise how beautifully he’s been brought to life in this book.’ GARY DONOHOE, PROFESSOR & CHAIR OF PSYCHOLOGY, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND ‘A beacon of hope.’ MARINA NEMAT, AUTHOR OF INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER PRISONER OF TEHRAN During the last five years of his life, spiritual leader and teacher Henri Nouwen became close to a travelling circus trapeze troupe, The Flying Rodleighs. The lessons he discovered through his relationship with the troupe stimulated Nouwen to write in a genre new to him, creative non-fiction, and these writings are presented for the first time in Flying, Falling, Catching. With care and insight, Nouwen’s colleague and friend Carolyn Whitney-Brown weaves Henri’s material into a dramatic narrative that imagines his life flashing before him during his first heart attack. We learn how Nouwen saw his own experiences reflected in the artistry, exhilarating successes, crushing failures and continual forgiveness that were integral to the act of The Flying Rodleighs. A fascinating blend of autobiography and spiritual writing, Flying, Falling Catching offers an extraordinary new angle on a man who has inspired thousands. Through his own writings and Whitney-Brown’s narrative, we see him as a spiritual adventurer, someone who was transformed by diversity as he learned to view the world through many perspectives. Nouwen’s story – including his participation in the Civil Rights movement, the friendships he made during the 1990s AIDS pandemic, and many other unexpected encounters – encourages us to embrace our vulnerabilities, and vividly reminds us that one of the greatest challenges we face is to avoid despair by reflecting on the meaning and significance of the lives we have lived, and are living. Part inspirational Christian autobiography, part thought-provoking narrative, Flying, Falling Catching will surprise and delight long-term fans of Nouwen’s ministry and new readers keen to learn more about him. In offering a deeper understanding of an extraordinary yet very human spirit, it provides us with the motivation to search out our own spiritual adventure; like Nouwen, we too can learn to let go and fly – and not be afraid to fall.

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