Can You Drink the Cup?

The last book published before Henri Nouwen’s death in 1996, Can You Drink the Cup? has been translated into ten languages and sold more than 140,000 copies. Exploring the deep spiritual impact of the question Jesus asked his friends James and John, Nouwen reflects upon the metaphor of the cup, using the images of holding, lifting, and drinking to articulate the basics of the spiritual life. Written with the profound insight and clarity characteristic of his numerous best-selling books, Nouwen’s deeply perceptive exploration of Jesus’ challenging question has the power to pierce your heart, expand your spiritual horizons, and radically change your life.

Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996), one of the most popular spiritual writers of our time, was ordained a priest in 1957 in Holland. He wrote more than forty books, among them the bestselling Out of Solitude. He taught at the University of Notre Dame as well as at 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 mental disabilities.

This is one of the books read for Hewitt’s Lightning Literature and Composition: American Christian Authors. (See Related Items below).