The Life of the Beloved

by Henri J M Nouwen

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I had started this book a couple of years ago, but never got around to finishing for one reason or another. So I was pleased to see that this was the second book of the four chosen for this year's Renovaré Book Club and I was given the opportunity to restart it.

This book was originally written for a Jewish friend of Nouwen, but it never resonated with him in the way he had hoped it would. It almost never got published, but others who had read the manuscript persuaded Nouwen to publish it, as it had spoken to them in a way that it hadn't to its original audience, the Jewish friend and his friends.

Like many of Nouwen's books this is not a long book, but it needs to be read slowly to be appreciated. The book club format helped me to do this and that might be why I enjoyed it so much. It's not a forced book and the ideas sink in slowly and continue to do so after it is put down. What I liked the most about it is probably the simplicity of it. It is deep, but the language makes it very accessible.

One of my favourite quotes is from the epilogue:

'I feel within myself a deep-rooted resistance to proving anything to anybody. I don't want to say: "I will show you that you need God to live a full life." I can only say: "For me, God is the one who calls me the Beloved, and I have a desire to express to others how I try to become more fully who I already am." But beyond that I feel very poor and powerless.'

This really spoke to me of the humility that Nouwen lived by, and it is something we can all strive to be like. I'd heartily recommend this book, but take your time reading it if you do.