Late priest Fr. Henri Nouwen's writing has been a wellspring for me over the past several years. I've been particularly moved by many of his works of memoir dealing with his mother's death. In his beautiful, In Memoriam, she was more alive on the page than in this work, which also deals with the subject of her death. This is a letter written to his father six months after his mother's death. It begins in a Trappist monastery during Holy Week and ends at the third day of Easter. The liturgical time informs his thoughts on his mother's death and on his family's bereavement. Holy Week and Easter seem an encouragement for Nouwen's assertions that love is beyond human time and stronger than death. He talks about "befriending death," a concept he picked up from Jungian analyst James Hillman, who attended a seminar Nouwen taught on Christian Spirituality at Yale Divinity School. Nouwen's meditations, shared with his father, encourage facing death but also embracing life. His thoughts about the timing of his mother's death made me think a bit about the timing of my own father's death, which was in many ways a mercy for my family and many ways not. The challenge of living after a loved one is gone is frankly addressed within the 96 pages of this book in questions and experiences. Though I found this book interesting, I'd have to say that In Memoriam is a much more powerful work. Sadly, I don't have a copy of that to share but this is a good meditation for the bereaved as well. I don't think it's the right book for every bereaved person but writing about it here will surely help me find this book again if I ever need it or feel anyone else does.

Reserved for a reader in Finland.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

To Finland with a wish for God's Peace and healing always!

Thank you very much, the books arrived safely in Finland today!
We collect bibles and different translations of it, and love to read texts by Nouwen ;)

thanks a lot!