Draw Ever Closer is an easy-to-use devotional for all who seek both intimacy with God and relationship with other people. This book offers you a personal, thirty-day retreat based on the most popular works of modern spiritual writer Henri J. M. Nouwen, a priest, psychologist, and lifelong seeker whose books include Out of Solitude and With Open Hands. Requiring only a few minutes each day, Draw Ever Closer allows you to reflect deeply on the fundamental longings for meaning, belonging, and intimacy as well as the call to service and social justice in each person’s life.
Henri Nouwen—renowned Dutch priest, teacher, and spiritual leader—explored the depths of human experience as a meeting place with God in his spiritual writings for popular audiences. Trained as a psychologist, he was keenly aware of the inner movements of the psyche: the search for authentic self-awareness, the longing for human intimacy, and the desire to draw ever closer to the fullness of union with God.
All titles in the 30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher series contain a brief morning meditation, a mantra for use throughout the day, and a night prayer to focus your thoughts as the day ends. This simple book is the perfect prayer companion for busy people who want to root their spiritual practice in Nouwen’s timeless, and timely, teachings on relationship. Reflecting perceptively on the words and deeds of Jesus, Nouwen shares his own relationship with Christ in a way that leads readers to Christ and teaches them to follow his example.
Henri J.M. Nouwen is one of the most popular spiritual writers of our time. He wrote more than forty books, among them the best-selling Can You Drink the Cup, With Open Hands, and Out of Solitude. He taught at the University of Ntore Dame, as well as Yale and Harvard Universities. From 1986 until his death in 1996, he was part of the L`Arche Daybreak community in Toronto where he shared his life with people with developmental disabilities.
Robert M. Hamma is the author of nine books and numerous articles on spirituality and family life. He retired in 2016 as vice president and editorial director at Ave Maria Press. Hamma earned a master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame and a master of divinity degree from Immaculate Conception Seminary. He previously worked as an editor at Paulist Press, a hospital chaplain, and in parish ministry. He and his wife, Kathryn Schneider, have three grown children and live in Granger, Indiana.
