You may be interested in…
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The Return of the Prodigal Son
Influences & Suggested Reading, Spiritual GrowthThe Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen A chance encounter with a reproduction of Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son catapulted Henri Nouwen on a long spiritual adventure. Here he shares the deeply personal and resonant meditation that led him to discover the place within which God has chosen to dwell. In seizing the inspiration that came to him through Rembrandt’s depiction of the powerful Gospel story, Henri Nouwen probes the several movements of the parable: the younger son’s return, the father’s restoration of sonship, the elder son’s vengefulness, and the father’s compassion. In his reflection on Rembrandt in light of his own life journey, the author evokes the powerful drama of the parable in a rich, captivating way that is sure to reverberate in the hearts of readers. The themes of homecoming, affirmation, and reconciliation will be newly discovered by all who have known loneliness, dejection, jealousy, or anger. The challenge to love as the father and be loved as the son will be seen as the ultimate revelation of the parable known to Christians through time, and here represented with a vigour and power fresh for our times.£11.99 -
Mere Spirituality : The Spiritual Life According to Henri Nouwen
Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyHenri Nouwen's compelling spirituality of the heart is at once simple and complex, accessible but deeply profound. For this Catholic theologian, whose ecumenical writings continue to inspire Christians of all denominations and levels of involvement, spirituality is, at its most basic, simply 'attention to the life of the spirit in us'.Wil Hernandez's sensitive distillation of Nouwen's vast literary legacy invites us to take courage and be still, creating space for God and our true selves. It is in this place of trust and solitude that we discover our belovedness and our capacity to love God and others.A scholar and spiritual director intimately acquainted with Nouwen's understanding of the spiritual life, Wil Hernandez offers an elegant synthesis of Nouwen's main themes, inspiring us to embrace the power and vulnerability of mere spirituality.£9.99 -
The Inner Voice of Love: A journey through anguish to freedom
Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyThis is Henri Nouwen's 'secret journal'. It was wrtten during the most difficult period of his life, when, following the breakdown of a close relationship, 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 stilla ble to keep a journal in which he wrote eah day a spiritual imperative to himself, which emerged from his conversations with friends. For more than eight years, Henri Nouwen felt that what he wrote was too raw and private to share with others. Instead he published The Return of the Prodigal Son in which he expressed some of the insights gained during his mental and spiritual crisis. But then friends asked hi,, '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 many of your spiritual insights? For the countless men and women who have to live through the pain of broken relationship, or who suffer from the loss of a loved one, this book offers new courage, new hope, even new life.£9.99 -
Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son
Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyPrior to writing his great classic, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen suffered an enormous personal loss and breakdown that took him away from his home in the L'Arche Daybreak community for a period of seven months. His thoughts were intense, raw and deeply private, and ultimately revealed to him the passionate drama of parenthood, filial duty, rivalry, anger and unconditional live on display in Rembrandt's painting. On his return from solitude, Henri held small private workshops on his revelations that were recorded in audio. The material of those extremely personal talks has now been formed into a unique work. Home Tonight brings to light Nouwen's lectures on the Prodigal Son in a powerful guide for spiritual reflection. Providing exercises, suggestions for times of solitude, questions for pondering, simple prayers, and aids for personal journalling, Home Tonight leads readers to commune with God through spiritual listening. A practical guide for the inner journey home, this important book will give those who adore Nouwen's works the chance to hear his voice anew on his most popular topic.£9.99 -
Compassion : A Reflection on the Christian Life
The Inner JourneyIn this provocative essay on that least understood virtue, compassion, the authors challenge themselves and us with these questions: Where do we place compassion in our lives? Is it enough to live a life in which we hurt one another as little as possible? Is our guiding ideal a life of maximum pleasure and minimum pain? Compassion answers no. After years of study and discussion among themselves, and with men and women at the very centre of national politics, the authors look at compassion with a vigorous new perspective. They place compassion at the heart of a Christian life in a world governed far too long by principles of power and destructive control. Compassion, no longer merely an eraser of human mistakes, is a force of prayer and action - the expression of God's love for us and our love for God and one another. Compassion is a book that says no to a compassion of guilt and failure and yes to a compassionate love that pervades our spirit and moves us to action. Henri Nouwen, Donald McNeill, and Douglas Morrison have written a moving document on what it means to be a Christian in a difficult time.£10.99 -
In the Name of Jesus : Reflections on Christian Leadership
Church & Leadership, LeadershipReflections on ministry and Christian leadership by one of our greatest modern spiritual writers.£8.99 -
Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit
Influences & Suggested Reading, Spiritual Growth£12.99Spiritual formation, I have come to believe, is not about steps or stages on the way to perfection. It’s about the movements from the mind to the heart through prayer in its many forms that reunite us with God, each other, and our truest selves.
Henri Nouwen, from the Introduction
Henri Nouwen, beloved author, priest and spiritual guide, counseled many people during his lifetime, but his principles of spiritual formation were never written down. Now, Michael Christensen, one of Nouwen’s longtime students, and Rebecca Laird have taken the famous course in spiritual formation and supplemented it with his unpublished writings to reveal Nouwen’s sage advice on how to live out the five classic stages of spiritual development.
I always knew I was in the presence of a spiritual master when I was with Henri Nouwen. Here are some simple, wise words that will allow the master to continue to teach.
Richard Rohr, O.F.M., author of The Naked Now
One of the book’s many strengths is its integration of an area especially important to Nouwen, the contemplation of icons and other works of art – visio divina – in order ‘to behold the beauty of the Lord’.
Jim Forest, author of Praying with Icons and The Road to Emmaus
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The Heretical Imperative
Core TeachingTrevor Miller, one of the leaders of the Northumbria Community, expounds on this vital (but difficult and challenging) part of the Community's Rule which exhorts us to 'take the heretical imperative'. He discusses the 'Inductive' method of approaching our faith (comparing it to the 'Deductive' and 'Reductive' approaches) and outlines five practical ways we can live this out in our daily lives.£4.00 -
An Altar in the World
Church & Leadership, Everyday Life, Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyIn this highly acclaimed and lyrical book, the best-selling author Barbara Brown Taylor reveals the countless ways we can discover divine depths in the small things we do and see every day. People go to extraordinary lenghts, she writes, to discover this treasure. 'They will spend hours launching prayers into the heavens. They will travel half way around the world to visit a monastery in India...The last place most people will look is right under their feet, in the everyday activities, accidents and encounters of their lives...the reason so many of us cannot see the red X marks the spot is because we're standing on it.' An Altar in the the World shows us how heaven and earth meet in such ordinary occurrences as hanging out the wahing, doing the supermarket shop, feeding an animal, losing our way. It will transfrom our understanding of ourselves and the word we live in and renew our sense of wonder at the extraordinary gift of life.£12.99 -
Reaching Out
Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyA classic work of spirituality that explores the three movements of the spiritual life: reaching out to our innermost self from mere loneliness to creative solitude, reaching out to our fellow human beings from arid independence to self-giving and finally reaching out to God who 'calls us from the darkness of our illusions into the light of his glory.'£5.99 -
Cranky Beautiful Faith
Church & Leadership, Culture & Mission, Re-imagining ChurchFormer stand-up comic and unlikely pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber weaves personal narrative, hilarious rants and powerful spiritual insight as she relates her unusual journey of faith, offering a fresh and uncompromising look at the transformative power of grace. As one of today's most provocative Christian leaders, she blends sardonic irreverence and brilliant theology to offer a new portrait of faith - one that is edgy, outrageous and, above all, real. Smart-mouthed and heavily tattooed, Nadia Bolz-Weber didn't consider herself ‘religious leader material’ and didn't expect to find her vocation leading a funeral in a smoky, downtown comedy club. But surrounded by recovering alcoholics, depressives, and comedians, she realized these were her people and maybe she was meant to be their pastor. This compassionate book portrays both church and seekers as deeply flawed yet deeply faithful.£12.99 -
Sabbatical Journey : The Diary of His Final Year
Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyThis journal was written during the last year of Henri Nouwen's life, ending shortly before his death in 1996. In it, he describes his struggles with other people, his difficulty discerning what God intends for him, the direction his ministry is to take, and, woven throughout the book, are the continual, endless and beautiful themes of God's reconciling love, the Eucharist, forgiveness, friendship and love. Three weeks after writing his final words of this book, Nouwen died following a heart attack.£9.99 -
Celtic Parables: Stories, Poems and Prayers
Celtic Prayer, Celtic Studies, Celtic Studies & Spirituality, Scripture & Prayer, Spiritual GrowthNever mock what others say. Perhaps their words are full of nonsense. Perhaps they are trying to puff themselves up. Perhaps they like hearing the sound of their voices. Perhaps they are trying to deceive their hearers. Perhaps they are foolish and dim. Perhaps they are more clever than wise. Yet amidst the useless clay You may find jewels beyond price. The word of God is in every heart, And can speak through every voice. Never mock (p.104) This collection of stories, meditations, poems and prayers evokes the authentic spirit of Celtic Christianity. Capturing the atmosphere of parables passed down through generations, it shows the human warmth, respect for the natural world and robust, down-to-earth qualities for which Celtic spirituality is so greatly valued. With its rich treasury of material – most of it previously unavailable in modern editions – Celtic Parables offers a fresh lively introduction to the Celtic world. It will appeal to all those fascinated by our Celtic heritage and the way it speaks directly to us today.£9.99 -
Adam: God’s Beloved
The Inner JourneyIn the year before his death in 1996, Henri Nouwen had planned to write a book about the Apostles’ Creed. But then the death of his friend Adam Arnett, a severely handicapped young man from his Daybreak Community, changed his mind. He found that by reflecting on the story of Adam he had found a way of describing his own understanding of the Gospel message, and in Adam, a book completed only weeks before his own death, he has left a fitting reflection of his essential message and legacy. Adam could not speak, or even move without assistance. Gripped by frequent seizures, he spent his life in obscurity. And yet for Henri Nouwen he became ‘my friend, my teacher and my guide’: it was Adam who led him to a new understanding of his Christian faith and what it means to be Beloved of God. Following the structure of the gospels, Henri Nouwen describes Adam’s ‘hidden life’ in the desert of institutionalised care, the ‘public life’ that came about when his family entrusted him to the Daybreak community, his ministry, his miracles, and finally his passion, death and ‘resurrection’. Gradually, under Adam’s instruction, Henri learned to adjust to a new, slower rhythm of life and to speak with the language of the heart. In Adam Henri Nouwen has found a new way to tell God’s story and the story of all human creatures, broken and yet beloved, who live in a world charged and alive with the mystery of the incarnation. It becomes a poignant and precious gift.£10.99 -
Christ as a Light: A4 poster
Celtic Daily Prayer & Liturgy, Music & Creativity, Northumbria Community Resources & TeachingThis calligraphic design by Pam French uses the words of the Canticle from our Morning Prayer. This design is also available as an A5 poster, an A6 greetings card and an A6 postcard.£2.00 -
Learning to Walk in the Dark
Influences & Suggested Reading, The Inner JourneyNew from best-selling author Barbara Brown Taylor, perhaps best known for An Altar in the World, comes Learning to Walk in the Dark. In this hardback book she writes with wisdom, grace and beauty as she seeks to rehabilitate what we have learned to fear - the dark. Here she reflects on how our lives do not only work when everything is brightly lit; twilight and deep darkness have treasures of their own waiting to be discovered. Babara Brown Taylor writes: 'Darkness is shorthand for anything that scares me - either because I am sure that I do not have the resources to survive ti or because I do not want to have to find out. If I had my way, I would eliminate everything from chronic back pain ti the fear of the devil from my life ad the lives of those I love. At least I think I would. The problem is this: when, despite all my best efforts, the lights have gone off in my life, plunging me into the kind of darkness that turns my knees to water, I have not died. The monsters have not dragged me out of bed and taken me back to their lair. Instead, I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again, so that there is really only one logical conclusion. I need darkness as much as I need light. Learning to Walk in the Dark is a wise spiritual companion and guide for those times in life when we don't have all the answers. Recognising our tendency to associate all that is good with light, and all that is evil and dangerous with darkness, Barbara Brown Taylor asks whether God doesn't work at night too? With her characteristic grace and generosity, she invites us to put aside our fears and anxieties and to discover all that the darkness has to teach us. She takes us to underground caverns, subterranean chapels, basement night clubs and unlit cabins in the woods on moonless nights. Through darkness, we begin to see the world and sense God's presence around us in new ways, guiding us through things seen an unseen, and teaching us to find out footing in times of uncertainty. Like seeds buried in the ground, we will find how darkness is essential for our own growth and flourishing.£12.99 -
Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the long walk of faith
Spiritual Direction, The Inner Journey96 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} Henri Nouwen, beloved author, priest, and world-famous counsellor and guide, understood the spiritual life as a journey of faith and transformation that is deepened by accountability, community and relationships. Though he counseled many people during his lifetime, his principles of spiritual direction were never written down. Now two of his longtime students, Michael Christensen and Rebecca Laird, have taken his famous course in spiritual direction and supplemented it with his unpublished writings to create the definitive work on Nouwen’s thoughts about the Christian life.£12.99 -
Paradox in the Gospel
Culture & Mission, Scripture & PrayerLife and the gospel contain a good deal of paradox, but a survey has showed that evangelists often ignore it. Here Jim Currin wants to stir a discussion to make evangelism more effective, in the belief that acknowledging paradox makes the gospel more exciting, relevant, and attractive to today's spiritual seeker.£4.00