{"id":4604,"date":"2010-06-17T17:40:01","date_gmt":"2010-06-17T21:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=4604"},"modified":"2026-07-19T15:31:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T22:31:39","slug":"warning-amazon-recommends-henri-nouwen-to-lighthouse-trails-readers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/warning-amazon-recommends-henri-nouwen-to-lighthouse-trails-readers\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning: Amazon Recommends Henri Nouwen to Lighthouse Trails Readers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, we received an email from a Lighthouse Trails reader who had purchased a copy of Castles in the Sand<\/em> from Amazon. The customer received the notice below from Amazon telling them that since they liked Castles in the Sand<\/em>, they might also like Henri Nouwen’s book, Spiritual formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit<\/em>. We want to issue this warning that Henri Nouwen was a proponent of contemplative mysticism, the kind that Castles in the Sand<\/em> so clearly warns against. At the end of Nouwen’s life, after years of following the mystical path, in the last book he wrote, he said these words:<\/p>\n

“Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God’s house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God.” \u2014From Sabbatical Journey<\/em>, page 51, 1998 Hardcover Edition<\/div>\n
To understand Nouwen’s Buddhist\/Eastern spiritual outlook, read Ray Yungen’s article, “Henri Nouwen and Buddhism.” <\/a>You will then\u00a0understand why we feel compelled to post this\u00a0warning regarding Amazon’s recommendation to Lighthouse Trails readers.\u00a0<\/div>\n

Dear Amazon.com Customer,<\/strong><\/p>\n

As someone who has purchased or rated Castles in the Sand<\/em> \u00a0by Carolyn A. Greene, you might like to know that Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit<\/em> will be released on June 29, 2010.<\/p>\n

From Back Cover:<\/strong> Henri Nouwen, the world-renowned spiritual guide and counselor, understood the spiritual life as a journey of faith and transformation that is deepened by accountability, community, and relationships. Though he counseled many people during his lifetime, his principles of spiritual direction and formation were never written down. Two of Nouwen’s longtime students, Michael Christensen and Rebecca Laird, have taken his famous course in spiritual direction and supplemented it with his unpublished writings to create the definitive series on Nouwen’s thoughts on the Christian life. The first book in the series, Spiritual Direction, introduced readers to the core concepts of Nouwen’s approach to the spiritual life. Book two, Spiritual Formation, showcases Nouwen’s life-long effort to re-construct the five classical stages of spiritual development as movements in the journey of faith. The five classical stages are these: 1. Awakening (our desire) 2. Purgation (purifying our passions) 3. Illumination (of God) 4. Dark Night (of the Soul) 5. Unification (with God) Readings, stories, questions for personal reflection, and guided journal inquiry as articulated by Nouwen will provide readers with an experience in spiritual formation with the well-known author, priest, and guide. The third and final book in the series, Spiritual Discernment, is planned to release in 2012 .<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, we received an email…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,29],"tags":[32,115,254],"class_list":["post-4604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spiritualformation","category-contemplative-spirituality","tag-henri-nouwen","tag-contemplative","tag-castles-in-the-sand","wpcat-1-id","wpcat-29-id"],"yoast_head":"\nWarning: Amazon Recommends Henri Nouwen to Lighthouse Trails Readers - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/warning-amazon-recommends-henri-nouwen-to-lighthouse-trails-readers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Warning: Amazon Recommends Henri Nouwen to Lighthouse Trails Readers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today, we received an email...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/warning-amazon-recommends-henri-nouwen-to-lighthouse-trails-readers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-06-17T21:40:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-19T22:31:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/warning-amazon-recommends-henri-nouwen-to-lighthouse-trails-readers\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/warning-amazon-recommends-henri-nouwen-to-lighthouse-trails-readers\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lighthouse Trails Editors\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a36b703d7722ce85599858df8bacc0a5\"},\"headline\":\"Warning: Amazon Recommends Henri Nouwen to Lighthouse Trails Readers\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-06-17T21:40:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-19T22:31:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/warning-amazon-recommends-henri-nouwen-to-lighthouse-trails-readers\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":440,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Henri Nouwen\",\"contemplative\",\"Castles in the Sand\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Spiritual Formation\",\"CONTEMPLATIVE\\\/SPIRITUAL FORMATION\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/warning-amazon-recommends-henri-nouwen-to-lighthouse-trails-readers\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/warning-amazon-recommends-henri-nouwen-to-lighthouse-trails-readers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/warning-amazon-recommends-henri-nouwen-to-lighthouse-trails-readers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Warning: Amazon Recommends Henri Nouwen to Lighthouse Trails Readers - 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