Explore the Spiritual Classics: Life of the Beloved (part 2)

“I choose you" Makes you feel kind of special, right? This is the first movement of Nouwen’s explanation of the spiritual life: our chosen-ness.  “When love chooses, it chooses with a perfect sensitivity for the unique beauty of the chosen one …,”  Nouwen writes.  In other words, God sees the fullness of our distinctiveness (for He shaped … Continue reading Explore the Spiritual Classics: Life of the Beloved (part 2)

Explore the Spiritual Classics: Life of the Beloved (pt 1)

Why bother with spiritual things?Henri Nouwen wrote Life of the Beloved to answer that question.  He had developed a close friendship with a sophisticated, non-religious urbanite.  This friend, Fred, was a part of an intellectual society that had lost all resonance with the forms of religion. Yet Fred saw in Nouwen a deep rootedness, a … Continue reading Explore the Spiritual Classics: Life of the Beloved (pt 1)