Rating: 
Summary: Great old book for a great new beginning
Review: I was recommended this book by my campus chaplain, Rev. King, whom I now look to for spiritual support, and he felt that this book would help me on my journey. I am glad that I read it. It was inspiring to me because I sometimes have the same feelings that Fred does as a woman living in a secularized world. But, after reading about what joy there can be to know that you are a blessed child of God, Nouwen stresses that by realizing that He has chosen you as a person with a gift (or more in some cases, like mine), your worries about your life's direction will start to become smaller and smaller. The good thing about this book is that you'll want to read it more than once because you'll want to learn more about your life through God's blessing. If you have the money, INVEST IN THIS BOOK. In fact, buy copies for your loved ones, too.
Rating:
Summary: Don't just read this book, experience it!
Review: I went on a retreat with other women from my parish. I was "broken" at that point in my life. The Retreat Master guided us throughout the weekend to experience the message of this book. Although it was difficult for me to hear, it was exactly what I NEEDED to hear at that time. I AM THE BELOVED of God. At the end of the retreat, he shared with us that everything we experienced during those few days were taken from this book. A few days later my dear friend gave me the book to read. It changed my life. Don't just read the book, believe it, experience it!All of us, no matter what religion were created in the image and likeness of God.
Rating:
Summary: Don't just read this book, experience it!
Review: I went on a retreat with other women from my parish. I was "broken" at that point in my life. The Retreat Master guided us throughout the weekend to experience the message of this book. Although it was difficult for me to hear, it was exactly what I NEEDED to hear at that time. I AM THE BELOVED of God. At the end of the retreat, he shared with us that everything we experienced during those few days were taken from this book. A few days later my dear friend gave me the book to read. It changed my life. Don't just read the book, believe it, experience it! All of us, no matter what religion were created in the image and likeness of God.
Rating:
Summary: A faith-basic understanding of God's love.
Review: In a world that confuses and recreates what we think is important, this book challenges the reader to an inner depth that can change and enrich their life. If you have forgotten or have never realized who you really are, this book will serve as a thought-provoking guide....a guide that takes the reader back to the God who chose them and loved them just as they are.
Rating:
Summary: Can be Mind Altering
Review: Life of the Beloved is among the final books published by Nouwen, and in that way is kind of a culmination of much of his life and thought and is thought by many to be his "flagship" work. Truly, it doesn't get much better than this. Reading this book as a Christian can be a mind and, hence, life altering experience. It was written to some of Henri's non-Christian friends about how much God loves them (which is certainly true!). And from the way Henri's life consistently pointed towards Jesus and the Gospel, I am sure that his friendship, love, and words to them in conversation were used by God for the good of the hearers. On that note, I would caution using this book alone as something to give to your non-Christian friends; because as Henri used it, it is best backed up by your life, love for your friends, and pointing them towards Jesus in your day to day life, and not as a gift without a relationship. The book is clear, and ultra-concise (you could probably read it in a day or two); yet, the message, of how to live as the Beloved of God amidst a world where there are lies about your identity at every turn, could not be more fundamental to how a Christian lives their life. I wholeheartedly recommend and in fact strongly encourage all Christians to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Can be Mind Altering
Review: Life of the Beloved is among the final books published by Nouwen, and in that way is kind of a culmination of much of his life and thought and is thought by many to be his "flagship" work. Truly, it doesn't get much better than this. Reading this book as a Christian can be a mind and, hence, life altering experience. It was written to some of Henri's non-Christian friends about how much God loves them (which is certainly true!). And from the way Henri's life consistently pointed towards Jesus and the Gospel, I am sure that his friendship, love, and words to them in conversation were used by God for the good of the hearers. On that note, I would caution using this book alone as something to give to your non-Christian friends; because as Henri used it, it is best backed up by your life, love for your friends, and pointing them towards Jesus in your day to day life, and not as a gift without a relationship. The book is clear, and ultra-concise (you could probably read it in a day or two); yet, the message, of how to live as the Beloved of God amidst a world where there are lies about your identity at every turn, could not be more fundamental to how a Christian lives their life. I wholeheartedly recommend and in fact strongly encourage all Christians to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: The Joy of being the Beloved
Review: Life of the Beloved is an excellent book to get in touch with
our daily spiritual life. I find that Nouwen reminds me of how much I am beloved by God. As a Religious,there is comfort for me in being blessed, broken and given. I took this book to heart. As Jesus took bread, He blessed, He broke, and He gave. This was His life. I understand how blessed I am to be alive and called by name to be loved and to love others in all creation. I am also called to be broken through trials, difficulties, pain and rejections. Yet I am aware of my unity with the sufferings of Him who calls me His Beloved. I feel and share in the sufferings of those who care and love me. I am being given as a gift to this world, just as i am, willing to share the talents given me with and for others in joy. Giving of oneself, says Nouwen is to become closer to the Beloved. God gave us Jesus, whom He blessed, and who was broken by His death on the cross, all because He was the Beloved of God. I, too, am the Beloved.
I recommend this spiritual book for anyone on a faith journey, seeking the embrace of God for all eternity. Nouwen's words challenge us to look deeply within our spiritual life in order to enrich it and know the tenderness of being the Beloved.
Rating:
Summary: The Joy of being the Beloved
Review: Life of the Beloved is an excellent book to get in touch with
our daily spiritual life. I find that Nouwen reminds me of how much I am beloved by God. As a Religious,there is comfort for me in being blessed, broken and given. I took this book to heart. As Jesus took bread, He blessed, He broke, and He gave. This was His life. I understand how blessed I am to be alive and called by name to be loved and to love others in all creation. I am also called to be broken through trials, difficulties, pain and rejections. Yet I am aware of my unity with the sufferings of Him who calls me His Beloved. I feel and share in the sufferings of those who care and love me. I am being given as a gift to this world, just as i am, willing to share the talents given me with and for others in joy. Giving of oneself, says Nouwen is to become closer to the Beloved. God gave us Jesus, whom He blessed, and who was broken by His death on the cross, all because He was the Beloved of God. I, too, am the Beloved.
I recommend this spiritual book for anyone on a faith journey, seeking the embrace of God for all eternity. Nouwen's words challenge us to look deeply within our spiritual life in order to enrich it and know the tenderness of being the Beloved.
Rating:
Summary: Life in the Beloved Family
Review: Nouwen reveals in "Life of the Beloved" a sacred view of life in the ordinary places of our daily lives. Unlike the thinking which is so common to our modern age which separates the sacred from the ordinary, Nouwen invites us into the sacred life of God in the midst of the ordinary. He does this through the four actions of Jesus at the Last Supper: Taken, Blessed, Broken, Given. For another Crossroad book which sees the sacred in the midst of the ordinary daily challenge of parenting, look into THE FAMILY CLOISTER: BENEDICTINE WISDOM FOR THE HOME, by David Robinson (New York, NY: Crossroad, 2000, 192pp., paper).
Rating:
Summary: A Gem for believers and unbelievers.
Review: The beauty of this book is that it explains God's incredible love for all of us in a way that is easy to understand whether one is a believer or an unbeliever. Twenty pages into the book I became so excited about all the friends to whom I could recommend it. I have purchased thirty copies so far and given them away. Henri Nouwen allows us to feel Our Lord's warm embrace and truly realize how blessed we are to be His beloved children. He invites people of all faiths to experience God's profound love. That is what makes it both a book to keep and reread, as well as one to give as the perfect gift. Buy at least two.
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