What makes us human is not our mind
BUT OUR HEART,
Not our ability to think but our ability
TO LOVE.
More About this Book
This book began as an invitation from a publisher for Nouwen to write a book about the Christian life for a Dutch audience. Nouwen responded by suggesting that he write letters on this topic to his nineteen-year-old nephew Marc, the son of his sister Laurien. In the end, the focus shifted to Nouwen ideas about Jesus and the meaning of our existence. He continued to use an epistolary format, but the text was written for publication with a far wider audience in mind. Nouwen himself describes the book as ‘a log of a spiritual journey…The letters in this book witness first and foremost, to my personal dealing with the life of faith.” He hopes that “those who are asking themselves what it means to lead a spiritual life will be helped a little by this book.” There are seven letters in total written from February to September 1986, while Nouwen lived with Jean Vanier and others at L’Arche Trosly-Breuil, France. Includes an index of biblical quotations.
Themes: Jesus, the Church, Eucharist, Meaning, Purpose, Life of the Spirit, Death, Spiritual Freedom, Suffering, Latin America, Compassion, Memory, L’Arche, Downward Mobility, God’s Love, Love, Following Jesus, Loving Your Enemies, Philippines, Friendship, Discipline of the Heart, Listening, Spiritual Reading, Catholicism, Isenheimer Altar, Making God Visible, Non-violent Love, Violence, Marthe Robin, hiddenness, Saints, The Bible
Letter to Marc about Jesus; Living a Spiritual Life in a Material World; originally published in Dutch as Brievan aan Marc: Over Jezus en de Zin van Het Leven (Lannoo, 1987)
Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd., 1988
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