The Dance of Life: Weaving Sorrows and Blessings Into One Joyful Step

This book was a wonderful way to start my morning. I would read a few entries to start my day on a positive reflective note. It has inspired me now to go out and buy the original books. Also has a wonderful perspective on grief.

It would be difficult to read this book and not come away from it humbled, inspired and satisfied. It is not to be read as a book per se, but rather a compilation of essays to which one could refer back to again and again.

I've been a Nouwen fan for several months now, having graduated from Merton's Sign of Jonas to Nouwen's Road to Gennessee. Have thoroughly enjoyed his journals and have been touched by his openness and honesty. He is quick to mention his struggles and shortcomings--something we don't often think of when we think of well-known contemplatives and spiritual giants here on earth! The Dance of Life contains numerous nuggets of spiritual wisdom from books I've yet to read. I'm reading it a bit each night, taking one or two selections as something of a devotional. Don't let the title fool you: there isn't much sorrow, or darkness, only real-life spirituality.

My church used Dance of Life, Henri Nouwen's works compiled by editory Michael Andrew Ford, as basis for an adult program during Lent. Lay people were able to facilitate discussion of different sections of the book easily.

This book changed my life. I was so engrossed that I read it in the course of one very intense day - a day filled with insights, with a sense of wonder and beauty and of God's all-sustaining love. It is a book that I will keep returning to for many years. This is the sort of book that I want to buy a thousand copies of to hand out at street corners. Especially poignant are Nouwen's insights on intimacy, acceptance, and prayer. The real beauty of Nouwen's teaching is his incredibly accepting and open approach to the self - where we are to celebrate our individuality and to incorporate even our failings and negative emotions into our understanding of ourselves.