In the first section of this book on the “nuclear man” I’ll be honest I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it. A decent diagnostic of the modern man, perhaps, but it felt dry, clinical. Moving forward from there, though, Nouwen has this incredible ability to reach past a surface-level piety and trite answers to suffering and reach into the heart of what ails us.

The book is about being a good leader/minister. But even if that is not specifically your calling, much of what is discussed is pertinent to the ministry of being a fellow-man. I have been given a lot to contemplate.

I was given this book after having a conversation with a mentor about the discontent I had been feeling for quite some time in my spiritual life. Nouwen describes this state well when he discusses "Nuclear Man". His way out of that is very simple and balanced, yet profound. First, there must be an interplay between contemplation and action. It is easy to lose one's way through overemphasizing one or the other. The image of a cross connecting two divergent paths is helpful. Nouwen goes on to make his most profound point, which is summarized in his title: the only way to be a healer is to face one's own wounds and be healed. This is also a very christocentric idea. This rings so true in my own life. Nouwen quotes Carl Rogers on p. 74: "I have found that the very feeling which has seemed to me most private, most personal and hence most incomprehensible by others, has turned out to be an expression for which there is a resonance in many other people. It has led me to believe that what is most personal and unique in each one of us is probably the very element which would, if it were shared or expressed, speak most deeply to others."

I've read only two of Nouwen's books so far, and just from those I can say his books warrant a 2nd and maybe a 3rd reading. His insights are rich, dense, and provoke a lot of contemplation. This is most definitely not a book to peruse through, but something to meditate on. I love the title- it perfectly describes the subject of this marvelous short book. People in helping professions develop their compassion and ability to help heal others by being wounded themselves, just as Christ was wounded. Highly recommend this book for pastors, counselors and anyone who wants to help others.

Addressed to ministers, this short reflection is a good primer on human suffering and, ultimately, how we can help heal ourselves and others by recognizing that woundedness is both part of the human condition and where we encounter the living God.

A few lessons I needed to hear:

“Behind the dirty curtain of our painful symptoms there is something great to be seen: the face of God in whose image we are shaped.”

“The wound, which causes us to suffer now, will be revealed to us later as the place where God intimated a new creation.”

“The liberator is sitting among the poor and the wounds are signs of hope, and today is the day of liberation.”

Synopsis

Nouwen opens with a description of “nuclear man,” the modern man who is forced to see that mankind's creative powers have reached a point where they hold the potential for imminent self-destruction. Nuclear man is further characterized by a historical dislocation, a fragmented ideology, and a search for immortality. Though originally intended to portray the youth coming of age at the time of the book's first publication in 1972, it is perhaps an even more accurate representation of the generations from that time forward.

The succeeding chapters share insights for ministry to the rootless and hopeless, emphasizing the necessity for one who would minister to others to first open himself up to participate fully in the suffering of those he is attempting to help and to share freely the compassion born of his own similar struggles.

The final chapter further explores the wounds of the minister and the grace by which they may become sources of healing to others. In the author's words, “A Christian community is therefore a healing community not because wounds are cured and pains are alleviated, but because wounds and pains become openings or occasions for a new vision. Mutual confession then becomes a mutual deepening of hope, and sharing weakness becomes a reminder to one and all of the coming strength.”

4.5/5 for me. The first two chapters were a bit abstract for what I wanted out of this book, but the second two though were pure gold, to the point that my underlining became pretty superfluous as whole paragraphs got the treatment. As Syndrome said in the Incredibles, "And when every [line's underlined] ... mwahahaha ... no [line] will be."

I read this years and years ago. It changed my life.

The life and works of the Catholic priest Henri Nouwen have caught my interest recently because I have been reading many articles about him, his struggles, and how he inspired other people in their struggles. I know that he wrote many Christian spiritual books but I thought that this should probably be the first one I should read because I was deeply intrigued by the title. The idea of a "wounded healer" always interested me. I consider myself quite a sad and lonely person so I always hoped that becoming wise through my sadness and loneliness so I can help others sounded like something I can aspire to.

As much as I like the idea of a "wounded healer" and hope others can consider why I find it so appealing, I might actually refrain from recommending this book quickly to others. The reason for that is because the writing and tone of the book really makes it obvious that Father Henri Nouwen had a really specific target audience in mind: Christian clergy and leaders. Most people, and even most Christians, are not clerics or have high positions of religious authority. Despite the book having a specific target audience in mind though, I still think that it has great insights. There are insights here that are helpful even for "common readers" for lack of a better term.

What I most deeply appreciated about the book were the musings on loneliness and accompaniment because those are topics that I heavily reflect on often. The author of the book recognized that loneliness is a wound so many people have. He also has many other relevant reflections on how people deal with being lonely such as distracting themselves and hoping for a person to come or a time to arrive when their loneliness is completely gone. I find that those observations have become much more resonant now especially the former since so many people have smartphones where they can watch videos or listen to music so that they can numb the sensation that loneliness brings. However, Henri Nouwen also deeply emphasized deep and genuine accompaniment and community in this book because even if loneliness might never be able to go away people can still accompany each other with compassion and understanding.

This took me a longer time to read since it is a short book. I hope that people who would read this book would read it by taking time. The good reflections in the book are really meant to be savored by being reflected upon deeply.

I wasn't entirely sure how to rate this one. On the one hand it is weird to read, with a lot of metaphors and flowery language. On the other it offers an interesting perspective on what it means to help people. The four chapters felt a little disconnected from each other and to me it was more like reading four individual stories that are loosely connected rather than a book on one specific topic.

I never get tired of Father Henri's work. He is very much himself a wounded healer. His capacity to reach into his own soul and life experience to provide his audience with tremendous depth and richness is unparalleled. Highly recommend.

Unforgettable book. I read this during a difficult turning point in my life. Didn’t make the road easier but definitely more meaningful.

This book had so many nuggets of truth on what it means to be a minister in a post-Christian world! While I definitely learned a lot from this read, I found myself enjoying this Nouwen book less than the others I’ve read. It definitely felt like more of a labor of love. The structure of this Nouwen books lends itself less to the beauty and poetic nature of Nouwen that I have come to love. Still would recommend through!