The Inner Voice of Love A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom

by Nouwen, Henri J. M.

• ISBN13: 9780385483483
• ISBN10: 0385483481
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-01-19
• Publisher: Image

Summary

This is Henri Nouwen's "secret journal." It was written during the most difficult period of his life, when he suddenly lost his self-esteem, his energy to live and work, his sense of being loved, even his hope in God. Although he experienced excruciating anguish and despair, he was still able to keep a journal in which he wrote a spiritual imperative to himself each day that emerged from his conversations with friends and supporters. For more than eight years, Henri Nouwen felt that what he wrote was too raw and private to share with others. Instead, he publishedThe Return of the Prodigal Son,in which he expressed some of the insights gained during his mental and spiritual crisis. But then friends asked him, "Why keep your anguish hidden from the many people who have been nurtured by your writing? Wouldn't it be of consolation for many to know about the fierce inner battle that lies underneath so many of your spiritual insights?" For the countless men and women who have to live through the pain of broken relationships, or who suffer from the loss of a loved one, this book about the inner voice of love offers new courage, new hope, even new life.

Author Biography

Henri J. M. Nouwen was a Catholic priest who taught at several theological institutes and universities in his home country of the Netherlands and in the United States. He shared the final years of his life with people with mental and physical disabilities at the L'Arche Daybreak Community in Toronto, Canada. He died in 1996.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. xiii
A Suggestion to the Reader	p. xxi
Work Around Your Abyss	p. 3
Cling to the Promise	p. 4
Stop Being a Pleaser	p. 5
Trust the Inner Voice	p. 6
Cry Inward	p. 7
Always Come Back to the Solid Place	p. 8
Set Boundaries to Your Love	p. 9
Give Gratuitously	p. 11
Come Home	p. 12
Understand the Limitations of Others	p. 13
Trust in the Place of Unity	p. 14
Remain Attentive to Your Best Intuitions	p. 16
Bring Your Body Home	p. 19
Enter the New Country	p. 21
Keep Living Where God Is	p. 23
Rely on Your Spiritual Guides	p. 25
Go into the Place of Your Pain	p. 26
Open Yourself to the First Love	p. 28
Acknowledge Your Powerlessness	p. 30
Seek a New Spirituality	p. 32
Tell Your Story in Freedom	p. 34
Find the Source of Your Loneliness	p. 36
Keep Returning to the Road to Freedom	p. 38
Let Jesus Transform You	p. 40
Befriend Your Emotions	p. 42
Follow Your Deepest Calling	p. 44
Remain Anchored in Your Community	p. 45
Stay with Your Pain	p. 47
Live Patiently with the "Not Yet"	p. 49
Keep Moving Toward Full Incarnation	p. 51
See Yourself Truthfully	p. 53
Receive All the Love That Comes to You	p. 55
Stay United with the Larger Body	p. 57
Love Deeply	p. 59
Stand Erect in Your Sorrow	p. 61
Let Deep Speak to Deep	p. 63
Allow Yourself to Be Fully Received	p. 65
Claim Your Unique Presence in Your Community	p. 67
Accept Your Identity as a Child of God	p. 70
Own Your Pain	p. 72
Know Yourself as Truly Loved	p. 74
Protect Your Innocence	p. 76
Let Your Lion Lie Down with Your Lamb	p. 78
Be a Real Friend	p. 80
Trust Your Friends	p. 82
Control Your Own Drawbridge	p. 84
Avoid All Forms of Self-Rejection	p. 86
Take Up Your Cross	p. 88
Keep Trusting God's Call	p. 89
Claim the Victory	p. 91
Face the Enemy	p. 93
Continue Seeking Communion	p. 95
Separate the False Pains from the Real Pain	p. 97
Say Often, "Lord, Have Mercy"	p. 98
Let God Speak Through You	p. 99
Know That You Are Welcome	p. 101
Permit Your Pain to Become the Pain	p. 103
Give Your Agenda to God	p. 105
Let Others Help You Die	p. 107
Live Your Wounds Through	p. 109
For Now, Hide Your Treasure	p. 111
Keep Choosing God	p. 113
Conclusion	p. 116
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