Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life (Paperback)

by Henri J. M. Nouwen (Author) "It is far from easy to enter into the painful experience of loneliness..." (more)
Key Phrases: Jesus Christ, Don Juan, Thomas Merton (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The author of The Return of the Prodigal Son offers a perceptive, inspirational three-step plan for living a spiritual life and achieving union with God. Reprint.

From the Publisher
With clarity and deep spiritual insight, this religious bestseller offers today's Christian a perceptive, systematic plan for living the spiritual life achieving union with God.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Image (August 5, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385236824
• ISBN-13: 978-0385236829
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #50,706 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

92 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lifeline for the weary Christian - refreshing and renewing, April 3, 2001

By	Just-a-girl "abc-survivors.net" - See all my reviews

This is my second taste of Nouwen, and it has been even better than the first ("The Inner Voice of Love"). This book is a valuable component of the amazing turnaround of my depression.

Some Christians say that when you find yourself burnt out and needy, you should go back to the basics. They offer no new solutions, and point you back to daily quiet times and church attendance and service. But here is a book that offers a completely new and refreshing look at God and life. It offers a chance to slow down, to deal with your own heart and soul before rushing to "perform" as a Christian should. Nouwen shows that only when we take time to love and hear ourselves, to become comfortable with who we are and be content with solitute, only after those steps are taken can we reach out to others in true love. We simply must love ourselves and deal with our hurts and needs before we can help and learn from others.

We often reach out to others when we are hurting. We are afraid to deal alone with our needs. We are desperately seeking someone or something to drown out our own voice, to give us new answers. We watch television, listen to music, read books, socialize. This book points us back into ourselves. For we are indeed God's children, and the Spirit is in us. When we learn to be still, we can offer that very stillness and peace to others. We can commune with God in prayer. We can break the illusions of business, of our circumstance ruling us. And we can once again be in touch with ourselves, others, and our God.

This is a life-changing, pain-shattering book. In these pages, we meet the Healer, the God who loves us infinitely and takes the time to fill us up and heal our wounds. We meet the God who gives us the peace to live a centered life, not a chaotic one.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical philosopy, engaging theology, December 27, 2000

By	Warren aldrich (NH, United States) - See all my reviews

As a Christian for 40 some years, I have searched for ways to more effectively live out my devotion to God. Nouwin's book Reaching Out came into my life after 40 some years in a legalistic cultish church and about 3 years in a more grace-filled church where I made some major moral mistakes.

Nouwin's perceptive and astute words described my experience so well. "...we constantly find ourselves clinging to people, books, events, experiences, projects and plans, secretly hoping that this time it will be different. We keep experimenting with many types of anesthetics, we keep finding "psychic numbing" often more agreeable than the sharpening of our inner sensitivities."

His prompting to turn loneliness into solitude where I can possible hear myself and God has been like water in the desert to me. I look forward to the time usually each day where I set the timer and try to empty my mind of noise and hopefully "descend with the mind into the heart"

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone seeking a Spiritual Life, May 20, 1999

By A Customer

I first read this book in college, it was an assigned text for a philosophy course. When I began to read it, I could not put it down. I could not believe that this uplifting book was an assigned text. The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life: From Loneliness to Solitude; From Hostility to Hospitality: and From Illusion to Prayer have changed my life. Since then I have read this book several times. I have bought it for my family members and recommended it to my friends and clients. I recommend this book or any book written by Henri J.M. Nouwen for all human service professionals or anyone seeking a more spiritual life.