Beyond the Mirror: Reflections on Death and Life

Give yourself a gift. Listen to renowned spiritual guide Henri Nouwen reflect on the struggles in facing death, particularly when it comes knocking unexpectedly. After his recovery from an accident in which his spleen was ruptured, Nouwen realizes he's very much alive, but to what purpose? In this search for meaning, his main questions become: Why am I alive? Why wasn't I found ready to enter the house of God? Why was I returned to a place where love is so ambiguous, where peace is so hard to experience and joy so deeply hidden in sorrow? In this book, Nouwen examines his accident, his call in life and his attitudes toward others. His perspective on death changes as he realizes the doors to eternity are a part of living each day in the expectation of a new birth. Nouwen shares that the most difficult aspect of surviving his close brush with death is the blend of his continued yearning for the God of love, which comes with a need to share that love with others, and the gnawing sense of being unfulfilled. Nothing erases that anguish but to surrender in life as the beloved child of God.