A review by glendonrfrank
Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith by Henri J.M. Nouwen
3.0
I'm slowly working through the list of Nouwen books I've received over the years only to learn that like half of them are actually compilations and works completed after his death. This one is certainly well put together but winds up covering the same ground as much of what I've already read. Of course, I really like what I already read! A big section of this book is built out of an expanded version of one of my favourite articles by Nouwen. But yeah, as wonderful as it is to be reminded of some of his insights, it's hard to place this as a particularly noteworthy collection.
Perhaps the most interesting aspects of this collection are those that are drawn from the end of Nouwen's life. I think one of the most relieving aspects of Nouwen's writing is his tenderness, the fact that despite his position in orthodoxy he still presents an image of faith that is, at its heart, loving and caring. Moreover, much of his work presents a deep pain and insecurity, a desire for intimacy he can't quite touch and a repeated need to assure himself of his own belovedness. I know it's been suggested before but I can't shake the idea of Nouwen as a closed gay man and how that transforms everything we know about him. His final recorded insights here are of someone at the edge of a revelation, coming into an "embodied spirituality" and realizing many of the assumptions he had of his faith may have been wrong. There is a tragedy there; I have to wonder what the writings of a fully affirming Nouwen would have been, a Nouwen who finally found the inner peace he was looking for, as his last thoughts suggest.
Perhaps the most interesting aspects of this collection are those that are drawn from the end of Nouwen's life. I think one of the most relieving aspects of Nouwen's writing is his tenderness, the fact that despite his position in orthodoxy he still presents an image of faith that is, at its heart, loving and caring. Moreover, much of his work presents a deep pain and insecurity, a desire for intimacy he can't quite touch and a repeated need to assure himself of his own belovedness. I know it's been suggested before but I can't shake the idea of Nouwen as a closed gay man and how that transforms everything we know about him. His final recorded insights here are of someone at the edge of a revelation, coming into an "embodied spirituality" and realizing many of the assumptions he had of his faith may have been wrong. There is a tragedy there; I have to wonder what the writings of a fully affirming Nouwen would have been, a Nouwen who finally found the inner peace he was looking for, as his last thoughts suggest.