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Book Review by Ralph G. Leverett, Ph.D., Professor of Special Education

Wounded Prophet: A Portrait of Henri J. M. Nouwen
Michael Ford
May 1999, Doubleday, ISBN: 038549372X

Check it out in the Emma Waters Summar Library or Buy It At

I encountered Henri Nouwen by accident more than twenty years ago. I am not sure whether his name or the title of the book I bought intrigued me most. The book was, The Wounded Healer, published in 1979. Although a reader expects to see a certain degree of the author's own life in a book, this one, represents much of Nouwen's being as well as serving as the obvious influence for the title of Michael Ford's biography.

Nouwen enjoyed an early life of privilege, was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood, and by midlife had achieved enviable teaching positions at Yale and Harvard. He spent his last years, however, living with and serving as pastor to persons with a variety of disabilities at L'Arche Daybreak community in suburban Toronto. These widely different professional positions reflect the diversity of Nouwen's personality. Although he enjoyed (at least at times) the stimulation of the university setting, he learned valuable lessons from the residents of L'Arche Daybreak. Most of the residents there would never have the ability to comprehend the intellectualizing of Nouwen, but they ministered to him, challenging him to recast his teachings in concrete ways.

Nouwen at his best was deeply spiritual, compassionate, and generous to a fault. He could, however, be inconsiderate of his friends and, in later years, almost consumed by his insecurities. He often felt unappreciated and unloved. Some of these feelings could be traced to his apparently cold and insensitive father. Similar feelings came from his own need for a recognition greater than he received from friends and the world at large. An additional, and significant, source of insecurity was Nouwen's struggle with his homosexuality. Although he apparently never broke his vows of celibacy, his desire to be a faithful priest sometimes challenged his desire for personal intimacy. Nouwen's faith was wrested from his own pain and vulnerability. His spiritual and personal battles are the greatest source of his theology and ministry. His conflicts are redemptive. Flawed like us, he shows us his own wounds, binds ours, and equips us to minister to the needs of others.

While some readers may be disappointed in Ford's discussion of Nouwen's sexuality, which borders on obsession in some chapters, the overall tone of the book is one of "honest balance." Ford describes Nouwen in very human terms. He reveals Nouwen as a man of intense faith and obedience to God and his church who secretly contends with his own deep insecurities and weaknesses. His battles feed his pragmatic theology which appeals to a broad group of followers, including fellow Roman Catholics, evangelicals, those with right and left wing political agendas, and seekers from non-Christian traditions.

Ford says more than once that Nouwen often preached beyond his living - that he was sometimes unable to live a life consistent with his teachings. Despite the encouraging tone of his writings, Nouwen experienced an emotional breakdown in midlife. One of his friends described that time as, "… not just a dark night of the soul, it was a dark night of everything, of the spirit, at the point of faith, at the point of his own being, desires, longings, and sexuality. …. But he did not lose his faith." Maybe this is what is most appealing about Nouwen. His life has a "universality". In all of his spirituality, he is one of us. We can easily identify with his deepest needs and learn from the faith that was his anchor.