Includes three meditations: Out of solitude, With care, and In expectation.

A short book, but thought-provoking. It's three meditations that were originally given as sermons. They are short and simple, but at the same time profound. I re-read two of them as soon as I had finished, so as to take them in better.

The first one talks about the need for withdrawing to be alone with God; the second about the need for care - for empathy, and suffering alongside people - in a society that's more concerned with cure. The third is about living in expectation of better things, and is the one I found least powerful.

I read one meditation per day for three days, and will no doubt return to this book again in the future. Definitely recommended. Four and a half stars really. ( )

[back cover] Drawing on three moments in the life of Jesus, Henri Nouwen invites us to reflect on the tension between our desire for solitude and the demands of contemporary life. He reminds us that it was in solitude that Jesus found the courage to follow God's will. And he shows us that fruitful love and service must spring from a living relationship with God.