Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) became a Catholic priest in the Netherlands and taught at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard. In 1986 he became the pastor of the L’Arche Daybreak community in Toronto. He wrote 40 books and many articles and lectures. (See also book 309 about him.)

The parable of the prodigal son is well known by many. Less well known is Rembrandt’s painting “Return of the Prodigal Son” in 1662. See http://www.artofeurope.com/rembrandt/rem14.htm for the best image. Most of the online images, as well as this book, are two dark, thus the image of a woman in the background in lost (but Nouwen saw it). The story, Luke 15:1-32, (on pp 1-2) and Rembrantd’s painting of the father embracing the returned son (with the older son and others as onlookers) had a very profound effect on Henri Nouwen. This book is the result of the convergence of three things: the story, the painting (in St. Petersburg), and Nouwen’s contemplation of them. The Prologue: Encounter with a Painting is his discussion in three brief parts he subtitles the painting, the event, and the vision. The latter is the result of much meditation of and contemplation about the story and the painting. The Introduction: The Younger Son, the Elder Son, and the Father describes how he came to realize that he needs to write about his experience. As he says, “During the year after I first saw the Prodigal Son, my spiritual journey was marked by three phases which helped me to find the structure of my story. The first phase was my experience of being the younger son.” The second and third phases are when he realizes he needs to put himself in the position of the elder son and the father as well. In so doing he first needs to learn more about Rembrandt’s feelings that led to the painting being as he made it.

So the structure of the book is set in Nouwen’s mind in the following fixed pattern: PART I. THE YOUNGER SON: 1. Rembrandt and the Younger Son; 2. The Younger Son Leaves; 3. The Younger Son’s Return. PART II. THE ELDER SON: 4. Rembrandt and the Elder Son; 5. The Elder Son Leaves; 6. The Elder Son’s Return. PART III. THE FATHER: 7. Rembrandt and the Father; 8. The Father Welcomes Home; 9. The Father Calls for a Celebration. In these three parts Nouwen considers and discusses both “sides” of the behaviors of the two sons – what they did that they should not have done, why they did such, and what they did that was right. As he said earlier, he puts himself “in the shoes” of the story’s three main characters of the parable and of what he deduced of Rembrandt’s thoughts from Rembrandt’s painting of them. He reminds the reader that the parable doesn’t tell how the elder son reacted after his father asked him to join in the celebration of the younger son “who was lost but is found.” He pictures the son’s father as having always acted properly, especially as he discusses what he, Henri Nouwen, would or should have done were he in the father’s shoes. The next step in his discussion is the Conclusion: Becoming the Father – here he makes it very clear that he is going beyond the son’s father and instead becoming the Father – God – in this story of homecoming. Finally, in his Epilogue: Living the Painting he relates his thorough discussion of this story to how and what he should do now, as pastor of Daybreak (a part of L’Arche, an international ecumenical community centered on persons with mental and physical disabilities, located near Toronto).

This book is a very thorough and very insightful discussion of and “fleshing out” of the parable of the prodigal son. Henri Nouwen does this in plain, simple language, easy to follow. I mention this because it occurred to me how a philosopher might have approached this story – by defining a thesis for each character’s behavior, then formulating an antithesis (opposite behavior) and finally coming up with a synthesis (an ‘ideal’ compromise between the best aspects of both sides of the issue). I often enjoy thorough philosophical discussions of issues, but, as I expect most people would also, I feel that simple language, if it is thorough enough, is easier to understand and convey to others. Henri Nouwen succeeded very well in this story, thus I give this book a very high recommendation.