Michael O’Laughlin is a spiritual director at the Healing Center in Arlington, MA and editor of Henri Nouwen’s award-winning Jesus: A Gospel. See also book 310, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, by Henri Nouwen (1932-1996).

When in college (‘58-‘62) I read two of Henri Nouwen’s books, but now I can’t recall which two. Since I’ve been doing book reviews in the last few years several people have recommended that I read more of his work. I thought I best to start with a biography of him. I chose this one because it focuses on his spirituality – the aspect of his life of which I’m most interested – more than would a “normal” biography. Michael O’Laughlin was Nouwen's teaching assistant at Harvard and remained a close friend. Because of this long friendship O’Laughlin understands the nature of Henri Nouwen’s unique spiritual journey: “Henri was not living out, nor was he presenting to the world, a universally applicable spiritual program, perhaps because there is no 'universally applicable' spiritual program.” … “A particular ability to befriend others was a most remarkable and appealing trait of Henri Nouwen. He was able to connect on a personal level to literally hundreds, and even thousands of people. Focused, animated, sincere and generous, he made himself very available to others.” … “Insightful and prolific as a writer, he was also one of the great preachers and teachers of his generation.”

In this book O’Laughlin gives a brief summary of Nouwen's life, from childhood in the Netherlands, his experiences in France, his quite frustrating experiences teaching at Yale and Harvard and beyond, once Nouwen found his calling. As O’Laughlin says in the Introduction, “Most of those who knew Nouwen in the period of his most intense searching, as I did, regarded his restless spiritual pilgrimage as one more dimension of his unique personality. However, a deeper analysis would perhaps have revealed something more: Henri Nouwen was waiting for a call, which is always a trying and difficult experience. All the signs were there: Nouwen would move off in some new and promising direction, only to return intrigued and better informed, but disappointed. He sometimes wondered if he would have to create from the ground up the community he was seeking. As his frustration grew, so did the honing of his objective.” …”The solution, when it came, was a complete surprise, as is often the case when God intervenes in someone’s life. Nouwen’s desire was primarily for a spiritual home. The desire was fulfilled in 1985… He was invited to become the chaplain at Daybreak, a community near Toronto. Daybreak is part of L’Arche, an international ecumenical community centered on persons with mental and physical disabilities, who are known as ‘core members’. This was a community that was living, as Nouwen wrote after meeting them, ‘in the spirit of the Beatitudes’.” Here was his calling and he spent his final years caring for and learning from disabled adults.

O’Laughlin ends his Introduction (an 18-pp preview) with, “In this book I want to do more than simply present information about Henri Nouwen. My hope is to begin a process in which we place ourselves in the unfinished story of God’s Spirit. There may be lessons that Henri Nouwen has yet to teach us, and these lessons will be more about how we live our lives than about how he lived his. The next six chapters are: Ch 1 – Origins and Early Influences; Ch 2 – The Psychology of Henri Nouwen; Ch 3 – An Artist, Not a Scribe; Ch 4 – Eating and Drinking in the House of God; Ch 5 – Jesus at the Center; Ch 6 – Spirituality and Prayer. The 3-pp Conclusion is an excellent summary of the book. As one reviewer said so very well about Henri Nouwen, “By sharing his own struggles, he mentored us all, helping us to pray while not knowing how to pray, to rest while feeling restless, to be at peace while tempted, to feel safe while still anxious, to be surrounded by a cloud of light while still in darkness, and to love while still in doubt.” I highly recommend this spiritual biography of Henri Nouwen.