Nouwen’s invaluable summarization of Christianity is one we all wish that us Christians actually lived as simply as he puts it.

Reading this every year

Great content. But the epilogue about secular/sacred communication hit the hardest for me. How can I talk about my faith in a way that someone who isn’t a Christian can actually understand?

Transformative. This short, powerful book significantly impacted the way I see myself and others. The simplicity and brevity of Nouwen’s writing never ceases to amaze me. He says more in 115 little pages than most can say in 300. I’ll be coming back to this one.

Came back to change my 4 star rating into a 5 star one. I read this book a solid month or more ago and continue to ponder different of the thoughts he expresses. Nouwen’s way with words, while being a big abstract, has a way of igniting your imagination. He might be my favorite author find of the year.

I liked the book but I also agree with Ava’s review so just go read that.

Henri Nouwen has a friend, Fred, who is a secular Jew. In a discussion together Fred shares that he enjoys Nouwen's writings but he does not feel as though the books truly speak to him or to those like him. So Nouwen sits down to write Life of the Beloved as a response to that critique.

The book reads like a series of open letters from HN to Fred where Nouwen writes what he hopes his friend would come to know and understand. Using his familiar high church devotional style, each chapter has a one-word theme like Beloved, Blessed, Taken, Broken, etc.

As I was reading this book I kept thinking to myself, "This is nice, but I don't think it is really reaching the audience for whom it is intended." Imagine my surprise when he openly confesses in his epilogue that Fred gave him the exact same critique. I cannot imagine the amount of courage and humility it took to admit and then publish this. Well, Fred might not have been blessed by this book, but at certain points, I certainly was.

Really lovely book. I especially liked Nouwen's definitions of friendship and belovedness. Felt a bit self-helpy and vague.

Henri is the GOAT

I've read this book several times. It speaks to me in new ways each time.

Too good to be true!!

In this sublime work Fr. Nouwen offers: "The greatest gift my friendship can give to you is the gift of your Belovedness. I can give that gift only insofar as I have claimed it for myself. Isn't that what friendship is all about: giving to each other the gift of our Belovedness?"

This book is, at its essence, a love letter. A love letter from Nouwen to God, from God to each of us, and if we so choose, an offering of our love returned to our Creator who calls us Beloved.

Fr. Nouwen speaks to each of us as friends: "Dear Friend, being the Beloved is the origin and the fulfillment of the life of the Spirit. I say this because, as soon as we catch a glimpse of this truth, we are put on a journey in search of the fullness of that truth and we will not rest until we rest in that truth. From the moment we claim the truth of being the Beloved, we are faced with the call to become who we are. Becoming the Beloved is the great spiritual journey we have to make. Augustine's words: "My soul is restless until it rests in you, O God," capture well this journey."

In our gratitude, out of our brokenness, accepting our blessedness and giving to all we touch our we may share the eternal love that is ours to experience.

"Becoming the Beloved mean letting the truth of our Belovedness become enfleshed in everything we think, say or do."