So this was my second time reading this book in about five months and I was still absolutely blown away by it. Henri Nouwen is so so good at writing. He understands the human condition so well and is open about his own issues in a way that makes you feel like he knows exactly what you are thinking/feeling. Honestly this book is a challenge, not a challenge to be a better person or to work harder, but a challenge to give up on our endless and exhausting desires to be accepted and loved by the world. Nouwen dares us, through a reflection on the parable of the prodigal son and Rembrandt’s painting of the same parable, to cast aside our constant efforts to be enough and to instead embrace a love so radical and unconditional that we cannot fully comprehend it. He dares us to rid ourselves of our limited human perspective on the topic of love and instead take on God’s perspective. A perspective where everyone is uniquely yet fully loved, where all our needs are provided for, and where there is no competition or jealously because God has more than enough for everyone.