In commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Henri J. M. Nouwen’s death comes this never-before published story of his surprising and inspiring relationship with a trapeze troupe, The Flying Rodleighs.

During the last five years of his life, spiritual leader and teacher Henri Nouwen became close to a travelling circus trapeze troupe, The Flying Rodleighs. Like Nouwen’s own life, a trapeze act is full of artistry, exhilarating successes, crushing failures and continual forgiveness. Nouwen wrote about his experience in a genre new to him: creative non-fiction. In All of Life in Nine Minutes, his colleague and friend Carolyn Whitney-Brown presents his trapeze writings woven into a dramatic narrative that imagines Henri’s life flashing before him during his first heart attack. 

Readers will meet Nouwen as a spiritual risk taker who was transformed by diversity as he learned to see the world through many perspectives, including his participation in the Civil Rights movement, his life in community with people with intellectual disabilities, his personal growth through friendships during the 1990s AIDS pandemic, and other unexpected encounters. 

What will we do with our lives, and with whom will we do it? Through this story of flying and catching, Nouwen invites us all to let go and fly – and not be afraid to fall.

Jean Vanier’s spiritual vision and sense of humour shaped L’Arche, but the organization was also informed by its surprising history with the United Church of Canada. In Tender to the World Carolyn Whitney-Brown explores the connections between the two organizations through diverse critical insights from Julia Kristeva, Doreen Massey, and Mikhail Bakhtin, as well as Vanier''s controversial articulation of the gift of weakness. Tracing the five-decade relationship between L''Arche and the United Church alongside evolving disability theories, Whitney-Brown examines both the fundamental importance of stories and the agency of people with intellectual disabilities. Inversion - a transformative overturning of expectations in social interactions - can be upsetting or exciting, challenging or inspiring, she argues. This book offers a fresh look at how L''Arche and the United Church have worked to break down walls of difference, illuminating how each tenders something unexpected to the other and to the world. At a time when many are seeking new visions for society, the long and complex relationship between Canada''s largest Protestant denomination and L''Arche offers both encouragement and a deeper way to approach questions of living in diverse communities.

Jean Vanier’s spiritual vision and sense of humour shaped L’Arche, but the organization was also informed by its surprising history with the United Church of Canada. In Tender to the World Carolyn Whitney-Brown explores the connections between the two organizations through diverse critical insights from Julia Kristeva, Doreen Massey, and Mikhail Bakhtin, as well as Vanier''s controversial articulation of the gift of weakness. Tracing the five-decade relationship between L''Arche and the United Church alongside evolving disability theories, Whitney-Brown examines both the fundamental importance of stories and the agency of people with intellectual disabilities. Inversion - a transformative overturning of expectations in social interactions - can be upsetting or exciting, challenging or inspiring, she argues. This book offers a fresh look at how L''Arche and the United Church have worked to break down walls of difference, illuminating how each tenders something unexpected to the other and to the world. At a time when many are seeking new visions for society, the long and complex relationship between Canada''s largest Protestant denomination and L''Arche offers both encouragement and a deeper way to approach questions of living in diverse communities.

In commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Henri J. M. Nouwen’s death comes this never-before published story of his surprising and inspiring relationship with a trapeze troupe, The Flying Rodleighs.

During the last five years of his life, spiritual leader and teacher Henri Nouwen became close to a travelling circus trapeze troupe, The Flying Rodleighs. Like Nouwen’s own life, a trapeze act is full of artistry, exhilarating successes, crushing failures and continual forgiveness. Nouwen wrote about his experience in a genre new to him: creative non-fiction. In All of Life in Nine Minutes, his colleague and friend Carolyn Whitney-Brown presents his trapeze writings woven into a dramatic narrative that imagines Henri’s life flashing before him during his first heart attack. 

Readers will meet Nouwen as a spiritual risk taker who was transformed by diversity as he learned to see the world through many perspectives, including his participation in the Civil Rights movement, his life in community with people with intellectual disabilities, his personal growth through friendships during the 1990s AIDS pandemic, and other unexpected encounters. 

What will we do with our lives, and with whom will we do it? Through this story of flying and catching, Nouwen invites us all to let go and fly – and not be afraid to fall.

Jean Vanier’s spiritual vision and sense of humour shaped L’Arche, but the organization was also informed by its surprising history with the United Church of Canada. In Tender to the World Carolyn Whitney-Brown explores the connections between the two organizations through diverse critical insights from Julia Kristeva, Doreen Massey, and Mikhail Bakhtin, as well as Vanier''s controversial articulation of the gift of weakness. Tracing the five-decade relationship between L''Arche and the United Church alongside evolving disability theories, Whitney-Brown examines both the fundamental importance of stories and the agency of people with intellectual disabilities. Inversion - a transformative overturning of expectations in social interactions - can be upsetting or exciting, challenging or inspiring, she argues. This book offers a fresh look at how L''Arche and the United Church have worked to break down walls of difference, illuminating how each tenders something unexpected to the other and to the world. At a time when many are seeking new visions for society, the long and complex relationship between Canada''s largest Protestant denomination and L''Arche offers both encouragement and a deeper way to approach questions of living in diverse communities.

Jean Vanier’s spiritual vision and sense of humour shaped L’Arche, but the organization was also informed by its surprising history with the United Church of Canada. In Tender to the World Carolyn Whitney-Brown explores the connections between the two organizations through diverse critical insights from Julia Kristeva, Doreen Massey, and Mikhail Bakhtin, as well as Vanier''s controversial articulation of the gift of weakness. Tracing the five-decade relationship between L''Arche and the United Church alongside evolving disability theories, Whitney-Brown examines both the fundamental importance of stories and the agency of people with intellectual disabilities. Inversion - a transformative overturning of expectations in social interactions - can be upsetting or exciting, challenging or inspiring, she argues. This book offers a fresh look at how L''Arche and the United Church have worked to break down walls of difference, illuminating how each tenders something unexpected to the other and to the world. At a time when many are seeking new visions for society, the long and complex relationship between Canada''s largest Protestant denomination and L''Arche offers both encouragement and a deeper way to approach questions of living in diverse communities.