"This book is my secret journal," Nouwen wrote. At first he had no intention of sharing this personal diary of the difficult months when he felt all meaning in his life was missing and all ahead seemed a dark, bottomless abyss. In spite of his inner turmoil, Nouwen recorded the descent into his heart in these 63 journal entries. Friends persuaded him that sharing his painful soul-searching might help others who also struggle to embrace life with joy.

Throughout his life, Nouwen longed for deeper relationships with others and with God. "Do not hesitate to love and to love deeply," he urges. While your heart may break, he says, you will then have a choice - to become bitter or to stand in your pain and become fruitful with God as the spiritual guide of your life. The inner voice is a voice of love.