Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book

Hot Search

The Dance of Life: Weaving Sorrows and Blessings into One Joyful Step

henri j.m. nouwen michael ford

... Show More
In this new anthology, Michael Andrew Ford gathers Henri J.M. Nouwen's selections that encourage us to embrace our imperfections and find the transforming power of God at work within them. Spiritual refreshment and guidance through the darkness, loneliness, and turmoil of life's challenges.

219 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,2005

This edition

Format
219 pages, Paperback
Published
January 1, 2006 by Ave Maria Pr
ISBN
9781594710872
ASIN
1594710872
Language
English

More editions

About the author

Profile Image for henri j.m. nouwen

henri j.m. nouwen

... Show More
Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen (Nouen), (1932–1996) was a Dutch-born Catholic priest and writer who authored 40 books on the spiritual life.

Nouwen's books are widely read today by Protestants and Catholics alike. The Wounded Healer, In the Name of Jesus, Clowning in Rome, The Life of the Beloved, and The Way of the Heart are just a few of the more widely recognized titles. After nearly two decades of teaching at the Menninger Foundation Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, and at the University of Notre Dame, Yale University and Harvard University, he went to share his life with mentally handicapped people at the L'Arche community of Daybreak in Toronto, Canada. After a long period of declining energy, which he chronicled in his final book, Sabbatical Journey, he died in September 1996 from a sudden heart attack.

His spirituality was influenced by many, notably by his friendship with Jean Vanier. At the invitation of Vanier he visited L'Arche in France, the first of over 130 communities around the world where people with developmental disabilities live and share life together with those who care for them. In 1986 Nouwen accepted the position of pastor for a L'Arche community called "Daybreak" in Canada, near Toronto. Nouwen wrote about his relationship with Adam, a core member at L'Arche Daybreak with profound developmental disabilities, in a book titled Adam: God's Beloved. Father Nouwen was a good friend of the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin.

The results of a Christian Century magazine survey conducted in 2003 indicate that Nouwen's work was a first choice of authors for Catholic and mainline Protestant clergy.

One of his most famous works is Inner Voice of Love, his diary from December 1987 to June 1988 during one of his most serious bouts with clinical depression.

There is a Father Henri J. M. Nouwen Catholic Elementary School in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

Readers also enjoyed

Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 14 votes)
5 stars
4(29%)
4 stars
5(36%)
3 stars
5(36%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
14 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
0IIch0ps
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
Read JUN 2007

Excellent edited collection of Henri Nouwen's works. Good way to identify individual titles you may want to dig into deeper.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Fro_Buntu77
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
Now, I have read Nouwen before and really loved it (Return of the Prodigal Son plus another one or two). I received this book for Christmas (though I blame myself since it was on my Amazon list). I did not realize this was an edited book with blurbs from his many different books and diaries. To be quite honest, for such a short book, it was extremely difficult to get through. It felt like reading a recipe book. Characterized by subject, you read 10 excerpts about going home (dying), similar to how you could read through a chapter on desserts, but you enjoy no build-up of a point or climax, or real flow within the chapters. I've already listed it on Title Trader. I had hoped, after getting over the initial disappointment, that it would at least help me decide on which book of his to read next, but no such luck. Apparently (from the preface) there is another edited volume (by Michael Ford?), do - not - do - it. Read a Nouwen book the way he wrote it, one book from start to finish.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
WrysOfTalys
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
Really helpful during some of my darkest days. I like the concept of weaving the joy and the pain together, and these excerpts from Nouwen's other works all touch on this idea.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
M0k0cch1_13
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
Wow, I love this book (despite the slightly cheesy title). Nouwen's psychological training informs his very down-to-earth spiritual writing, and this is a great format - an anthology of excerpts arranged by theme. The great message of God's love shines through every page. It's a wonderful book to read a little at a time.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
MacKtheVoid
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
I loved the way the editor, Michael Ford, organized Nouwen's material and referenced the significant life stages we emerge through, then sited which of Nouwen's book it came from. It motivated me to read one of his other books. it was very inspiring!
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Tyiriel
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
My attention kept wandering when reading this book. Normally I love Nouwen's writing, but I didn't connect with this one.

Perhaps it was because this book is a collection of passages from his other books, and a paragraph or two isn't enough to pull me in. I don't know. Maybe if I read it again at another time I'd connect to it...
0 0 Reply
Leave a Review
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.