Michael FORD. Lonely Mystic: A New Portrait of Henri J.M. Nouwen. New York/Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2018. pp. 162. $16.95 pb. ISBN 978-0-8091539-8. Reviewed by Sarah Louise MacMILLEN, Ph.D., Duquesne University, Pittsburgh PA 15282.  

     In the Ancient Greek sense, “psyche” refers to the soul.   One could say that the problem of modernity involves a split between soul, body, and mind—per the introduction of Cartesian dualism.  This healing of the fracturing of the human person has been the topic of discussion and debate for philosophers, social scientists, therapists, clergy and theological professionals alike since the dawn of Modernity.  That longing for a return to communion is a symptom of modernity, perhaps beautifully expressed in Rembrandt’s painting and topic for one of the theologian Henri Nouwen’s books, The Return of the Prodigal Son. 

According to Michael Ford’s Lonely Mystic: A New Portrait of Henri J.M. Nouwen, the Dutch-born theologian’s (1932-1996) writing and persona exemplify this sense of the “fractured/wounded”self, seeking wholeness.  To coopt a motif from a D.H. Lawrence poem, “the third thing,” the human is two: and the third thing essential to the human is what unites the other principles. In this theologically and psychosocially infused biography by Michael Ford, the reader sees how the psychological, social, and theological are intertwined into a narrative of one of the most influential “modern mystics” of the 20th century.  Nouwen was the author of powerful books that reflected his inner struggles with the spiritual domain of la noche oscura (“The Dark Night of the Soul” via St. John of the Cross’ description). But Nouwen’s own personal and intellectual reality reflect a certain universal condition of life in modernity—what the social theorist Anthony Giddens and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud highlight as threats of ontological uncertainty and insecurity.  Nouwen’s most famous works that address the human person on these terms include Reaching Out: On Three Movements of the Spiritual Life (1980), Intimacy: Essays in Pastoral Psychology (1969), The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society (1979), The Genesee Diary: Report from a Trappist Monastery (1989).  These works had wide appeal—even outside of Catholic spheres.  Nouwen “reached out” to ecumenical and non-Christian audiences, most likely because they speak to a universal (catholic) sense of the human condition in modern life. 

The main point of Michael Ford’s beautifully caring, but also revealing, biography is that Fr. Nouwen, like most post-moderns, experienced a deep desire for connection.  Loneliness is an epidemic, as many sociologists and psychologists are highlighting today. The paradox is technology was supposed to connect humans more than ever before, but it has left humanity alienated in many ways.  A few titles that explore this theme include Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone (2000), which describes socio-political dimensions of this phenomenon. And Sherry Turkle in Life on the Screen (1995) and Alone Together (2011) makes a link between loneliness and technology as it plays out in social relationships.  Henri Nouwen was not alive to see the extent of the epidemic of loneliness as a result of the prominence of the Internet, etc., but perhaps he was the theological prophet of its onset. 

Though Fr. Nouwen’s faith and intellectual journey was also marked by a great obstacle in the Catholic clerical community, that of negotiating his sexuality, his spiritual quest is an empowering example for anyone making their way through postmodern life.  The most evocative sections of Ford’s biography address the deeply mystical nature of Nouwen’s thought on the connection between mind/body/spirit—wounds and blessings, tribulations and triumphs.  Here the biographer channels Nouwen’s profoundly Catholic reorientation of a discussion of embodiment. To bridge to more formal theological discussion, the subtext of this section is that one reading of Aquinas’ theology should be retrieved from an overly Platonized, disembodied Thomism—namely the mystical affirmation of humans as incarnate spirits, and ensouled bodies. Given that, and the tradition of mysticism from John of the Cross, to Teresa and Thérèse, to the contemporary of Nouwen Thomas Merton, Nouwen might make a passionate plea for the Church as a whole to honestly come to terms with the body as a spiritual entity. Catholics, then, should move beyond their Platonist baggage, and the damaging legacy of seeing the body as inherently bad.