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The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life

The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life
By Henri J. M. Nouwen

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Throughout the forty-some books that Henri Nouwen wrote and the hundreds of talks that he gave, the subject of Prayer runs through them all and unites them. For him a life of faith is a life of prayer. Drawn from many decades of his life, the compilation of Henri's thoughts, feelings, and the struggle with prayer, reveal the core of the man and his belief that prayer is the only necessary thing.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #20586 in Books
  • Published on: 2008-01-01
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 224 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Henri J.M. Nouwen, author of more than 40 books, is considered one of the great spiritual writers of modern times. He taught at the University of Notre Dame, Harvard, and Yale, but shared the last seven years of his life with people with mental handicaps as pastor of l'Arche Daybreak community in Toronto.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
"Prayer is the bridge between my unconscious and conscious life. Prayer connects my mind with my heart, my will with my passions, my brain with my belly. Prayer is the divine instrument of my wholeness, unity, and inner peace."

Customer Reviews

Journey to the Core of Prayer & Life5
The Only Necessary Thing is not the usual book on how to pray and what makes prayer so important. It is a collection of a man's writings on his passionate believe in the Savior, and therefore, his conversations with Him. It gives a glimpse of how Henri Nouwen himself prayed and what is prayer to him. But never one time in the book does he come across as didactic. Instead, the book weaves together the essence of prayer and life in a contemplative and meditative manner. One can almost chew and "re-chew" through Nouwen's sober, frank and yet deep contemplation on his God and his conversations with Him.

Definitely, the credit of this book must also go to Wendy Greer, who has an excellent grasp of Nouwen's writings, and undoubtedly, her same passion for his God. She has put together Nouwen's best essays and writings in categories and ways that enables one to walk through each day reading snippets of the writings with a sense of continuity as well as of substance to meditate and chew for the day.

The Only Necessary Thing is a journey to the core of prayer, and that prayer is journey to the core of life.

Essential for those of us needing to be taught how to pray..5
Nouwen's work is always worthwhile, even when it is not his best effort. This book is his very best work on the most important topic he consistently addressed- prayer. Much thanks need to be given to Wendy Greer who gleaned these excerpts from his many books. She has done an admirable job. This book, due to it's format, is very conducive to being read over a course of time, maybe for one's devotions. The wisdom in it makes for a book that I will return to over and over again. I have given this book to my closest christian friends, who like me have a conviction that the prayerful life, a life lived always in the awareness of our relationship with Christ, is the only life worth living.

The Only Necessary Thing5
Outstanding. This was written by a close friend of Henri Nouwen. She has done a wonderful job of collecting & editing. This book is a tribute to Nouwen, and will be a joy to read and use for meditation, perhaps during Lent.