Robert Waldron devotes his time to writing, lecturing, and conducting retreats. He wrote this illuminating paperback in journal form as a preparation for a retreat on Henri Nouwen. He sees some similarities between this spiritual writer and the subject of another of his books, Walking with Thomas Merton: Discovering His Poetry, Essays, and Journals. Both men hungered for attention, felt homeless, yearned for solitude with God, were impressed with the work of Rainer Maria Rilke, and kept diaries.
Waldron notes that most Nouwen biographies deal with his loneliness, anxiety, and need to please others. With admirable thoroughness, the author depicts this Catholic spiritual master's confrontation with his inner woundedness and his dependence on the healing grace of God as a source of constant personal renewal in his life. Nouwen celebrated the Eucharist every day, by himself or with others. It was his way of connecting with Divine love and forgiveness. Waldron also does a fine job in addressing Nouwen's spiritual path as one where he was attentive to beauty — in art (icons, Rembrandt paintings, and other works), in word, in thought, and in the souls of others.
