Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World

Henri Nauwen writes in such an understandable way. He does great job guiding the reader through his suggestions of how to know deep in your heart that you are beloved by God, and how this relates and influences life in a secular world. Highly recommend - will be buying more to share with friends.

How often do we long for someone to walk beside us, as Jesus did with his disciples on the road to Emmaus, and interpret scripture for us…tell us how to apply it to real everyday lives? We ponder the words from the Bible. We read interpretations by theologians and spiritual seekers. We flinch when we feel condemned. We're comforted when we feel our lives are, at least for a moment, in synch with our understanding of God’s will. Yet we remain hungry…hungry for spiritual truth and guidance. This book was, for me, spiritual nourishment to help assuage that hunger.I recently discovered Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996) (pronounced Henry Now’-in), prolific spiritual writer, priest, professor, and pastor, and his teachings are like water for a thirsty soul. Nouwen espouses this message: We are beloved by God, and if we truly understand and believe that, it will change the way we live our lives.The book was intended to be a letter to a Jewish New York intellectual friend of Nouwen’s named Fred, whom he met when Fred interviewed Nouwen while teaching at Yale Divinity School. They formed an unlikely bond and became lifelong friends, sharing each other’s deepest longings, fears, and doubts. After some years of knowing each other, Fred asked Nouwen to say something about the Spirit that his friends and he “could hear.” As Nouwen stated in his prologue: “He was asking me to respond to the great spiritual hunger and thirst that exist in countless people who walk the streets of big cities.” This book is the result of Fred’s request, and its tone is indeed that of a dear friend talking intimately and warmly to a “fellow-traveler searching for life, light and truth.”The heart of Henri Nouwen’s teaching in this book is his conviction that regardless of our religious tradition, we are beloved by God, but our ability to share that gift of belovedness with others is only as great as our ability to claim it for ourselves. Why is it always easier to believe someone else is beloved by God than to believe I am? Nouwen believes “self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life, because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the “Beloved.” He speaks of listening for that voice and believes once we hear it, we will keep trying to hear it ever more clearly. “Like discovering a well in the desert, once you have touched wet ground, you want to dig deeper.”So Nouwen believes the most important spiritual journey of our lives involves claiming the truth of our belovedness and living into that truth by becoming the beloved…”letting truth of our Belovedness become enfleshed in everything we think, say or do.” To do this, we must explore ways the Holy Spirit moves in our lives. He believes we become the Beloved of God when we:1) claim that we are taken.2) know that we are blessed.3) acknowledge that we are broken.4) submit to being given.Each of these four ways is explored beautifully and helpfully in simple terms, with real life examples. He speaks in the context of natural cycles and has a truly moving reflection on the relationship between life and death. “As the Beloved, I am called to trust that life is a preparation for death as a final act of giving.” He distinguishes between a “good death” and a “bad death.” Without being syrupy or unrealistic about the pain of death and loss, he speaks convincingly of our lives being like a seed that must die to bear fruit. “How different would our life be were we truly able to trust that it multiplied in being given away! How different would our life be if we could but believe that every little act of faithfulness, every gesture of love, every word of forgiveness, every little bit of joy and peace will multiply and multiply as long as there are people to receive it…and that—even then—there will be leftovers!”LifeBelovedBookCoverOne fascinating insight I gleaned from this book’s pages is the notion that there is a distinction between talents and gifts, and that sometimes—perhaps often—our true gifts are buried beneath our talents. “We may have only a few talents, but we have many gifts. Our gifts are the many ways in which we express our humanity. They are part of who we are: friendship, kindness, patience, joy, peace, forgiveness, gentleness, love, hope, trust, and many others. These are the true gifts we have to offer to each other.” That is something I’ll be thinking about for a long time.Ironically, as Nouwen relates in the epilogue, the book did not seem to resonate with Fred and his friends as much as Nouwen had hoped it would. For him, “it was writing for the ‘converted’ and not for truly secular people.” It did, in fact, appeal to thousands of Christian pilgrims who struggle through life trying to apply the Christian principles they’ve learned to the situations they encounter day in and day out.It certainly resonated with me.So without Fred, he would never have written the book, but it turned out to be more helpful to believers than to non-believers. “It is the mystery of God using his secular friends to instruct his disciples.”

All of Nouwen's book go down like cold lemonade on a hot southern day - refreshing, restorative and a bit challenging. This work portrays the dynamic Nouwen shared with one inquiring about spiritual living. I've read this work several times and have sent copies of it to some of the men I am working with in a similar process. Nouwen leads us to water and shows us how to lead others to it after we have found it.

Henri Nouwen is considered one of the great spiritual writers of our day. A teacher at Harvard, Yale, and Notre Dame, Nouwen is well versed in many subjects but theology is among his first loves. As a Catholic priest and follower of Christ, Henri Nouwen felt compelled to share his beliefs on how to live a better life while on this Earth and did a beautiful job in this book.Upon meeting journalist, Fred Bratman, Henri Nouwen discovered a deep desire to help Bratman understand what it meant to live a life as God's beloved. During an interview, while Nouwen was teaching at Yale, Bratman was sent to do a profile on Nouwen. As they talked, Henri asked if the journalist liked his job and was surprised to find Bratman did not. He was only doing the job because it was his job. When the interview was complete, they began to talk about more important thing in life and Nouwen felt a deep compassion for Bratman. He says in his book, "What was happening between us seemed to me quite similar to what happened when Jesus looked steadily at the rich young man and was filled with love for him." Mark 10:21. Beneath Bratman's heart of cynicism and sarcasm, Nouwen sensed a beautiful heart - one that longed to give, create, and live a fruitful life. The more he listened, the more he wanted to help. Thus began his teachings on how to live the life of the beloved.The book is written as a very personal letter to a dear friend. In it, Nouwen takes time to explain in depth exactly what it means to be beloved, how he knows we are considered to be beloved, and why we should live as beloved children of God.I found the book to be very inspiring. I especially enjoyed the chapter entitled "Broken." The profound truths in this chapter spoke to me personally. Nouwen stated, "Perhaps the simplest beginning would be to say that our brokenness reveals something about who we are. Our sufferings and pains are not simply bothersome interruptions of our lives; rather, they touch us in our uniqueness and our most intimate individuality". He also said, "Our brokenness is always lived and experienced as highly personal, intimate and unique. I am deeply convinced that each human being suffers in a way no other human being suffers."If you're searching for insightful truths written in a caring and compassionate way, this book is for you. It is well written and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This book is the antidote to Covid PTSD that is effecting our churches and more broadly our society. Understanding that we are worthy simply because we are loved by God is. The first step to Christian faith. It is the foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

excelente reflexão, a forma como Henri foi motivado a escrever este livro nos coloca em sua trajetória de se aprofundar em conhecimentos fundamentais que são repetidos, mas nem sempre refletidos.

I enjoyed reading this book and found a lot of encouragement in knowing I am Beloved no matter what my circumstances.I am a Christian and found the reference using the Last Supper as performed by Jesus as a guide to Christian living really inspirational.I have taken a lot away from this book and look forward to sharing it with others - especially my non-Christian family.

I really enjoy Henry Nouwen books. His books are inspiration and he has the gift of discerning the truths contained in the Holy Scriptures. HIs kindness, gentleness and mercy are evident as he shares these insights with his readers. I highly recommend for those 'on the road' and those who are still considering looking at the Saviour.

I ran across this book after watching a YouTube video where Nouwen spoke about the content of what is described here in much more detail at the "Crystal Cathedral" a few years before he died. There he tried less to speak to a secular audience and there were certain insights in the talk that don't appear here and vice versa.That said, I find his paradigmatic 4-step "chosen-blessed-broken-given" an incredibly powerful image for understanding personal identity. Even though he is not himself sure that this can be of help to someone outside of church world, I have personally found his model very helpful just in the recent weeks to engage in dialogue with friends that do not have a Christian background.

As with any books by henry Nouwen. There are little gems scattered through his writings. Must read.