With searing honesty Henri J. M. Nouwen describes the events leading up to his near fatal accident and recalls the transformative experience at the portal of death. Beyond the Mirror helps us contact the powerful reality of unconditional love that Nouwen experienced as he touched eternity. His insight inspires us to live our lives freely with confidence and trust that we belong to God.

Nouwen's personal experience of a near lethal accident and the resultant journey to that shadowland between life and death.

This short work by Nouwen which is probably better termed an essay is the first work I have read by him. The brevity made it something easy to focus my attention on his style and clarity of message.

The story of his lifesaving surgery (post auto-accident) after being misdiagnosed put him in a position where he really felt that he might lose his life and therefore ought to prepare his soul to meet the Creator.

This was worth the 2 hours it took to read although it is not on par with other spiritual titles in Christianity (Ignatius, Augustine, Theresa of Avila). He says, "I realized on a very deep level that dying is the most important act of living. It involves a choice to bind others with guilt or to set them free with gratitude. This choice is a choice between a death that gives life and a death that kills. I know that many people live with deep feeling that they have not done for those who have died what they wanted to do, and have no idea how to be healed from that lingering feeling of guilt. The dying have the unique opportunity to set free those whom they leave behind." For me this is a key passage since Nouwen breaks off where he could have communicated something inspirational. Instead he jumps to something safe and familiar by referring to what "many people" may or may not feel. A perfect moment for he to place himself in the company of true observers of God's grace, but he didn't trust his God given abilities to cast out into the deep waters of his own experience.

Nouwen says that he was a military chaplain for a brief period and that was where he acquired his sense of natural superiority which he worked hard to over come through the years. Nouwen has authored many books during his many years teaching in some the most exclusive universities in the world.

Short, and therefore worth reading. The title refers to his line in the essay about his meditation on near death being as if he were peacefully standing on the other side of the mirror of life's complications and responsibilities. ( )

A very short book - you could probably read it in an hour. Nouwen tells simply the story of how he got knocked over by a car one morning and nearly died. He reflects on what it felt to be near death and the comforting presence of Christ he felt. There are several worthwhile insights he shares from his experience, but less than I hoped for from such a spiritual giant as he. He published this in 1990 and died for real in 1996.

An encouragement. ( )