Falling Upward: A Spirituality For The Two Halves Of Life

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Richard Rohr, OFM (born 1943) is an American Franciscan priest and writer on spirituality [1] based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. [2] He was ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church in 1970, founded the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati in 1971, and the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque in 1987. In 2011, PBS called him "one of the most popular spirituality authors and speakers in the world". [3]

Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life

BB: Let me go into this because this is the sentence that I’ve probably read, no joke, a hundred times. In reference to Paul's "It is when I am weak that I am strong", he writes, "he was merely building on what he called the 'folly' of the crucifixion on Jesus." Merely? RR: That’s why, I know you’ve read Falling Upward, yeah. It’s the second half of life religion which is used almost entirely in Western cultures as a first half of life religion to create a container for me to live my life inside of and feel safe and superior. RR: Do it right. Then we remain inside of the quid pro quo universe, which is the one we prefer. Where two plus two equals four.

Summary of Falling Upward

One of the final points I want to bring up is the concept of the ego, what Rohr calls the paradox of the ego. This ego is embodied in the first task, the first container that we fill. BB: Wait, this is good. You write, I don’t remember what book it’s from. “Religion is for people who are scared to go to hell.” As usual, Richard draws heavily from the gospels to reveal how Jesus, whom Rohr calls the first non-dualistic teacher to the West, was a second-half-of-life-man who was given the unenviable task of trying to teach and reach and be understood by a largely first-half-of-life history, church, and culture. No wonder they judged, excluded, and ultimately killed him! But Rohr also draws from the world's great mythologies to illustrate how this second-half-of-life wisdom, and the pilgrimage required to attain it, is represented in the collective unconscious of humanity and illustrated in such great stories as Homer's tale The Odyssey - written 700 years before Christ! This particular emphasis on truth revealed in the stories and fables of humanity very much reminded me of the premise of another book that had a significant impact on me in years past - The Sacred Romance, by John Eldredge. Christian crowd vows to 'reclaim Jesus' from polarized U.S." Crux. 2018-05-26 . Retrieved 2018-08-06. Rohr can’t rectify a loving and just God. His god simply allows and accepts all things and acts (like those of Hitler and Stalin) and just wants people to grow beyond systems and orthodox religion.

Richard Rohr’s Falling Upward | Theology and Church Richard Rohr’s Falling Upward | Theology and Church

But sometimes people feel they've missed out on life. Henry James himself is a classic example! I felt that for years - until I woke up and suddenly saw the debasement of value which is in multitasking entropic movement. Then during the second half of life, the second mountain, we release it so that we might refill it with God and spirituality. BB: And the fragility of that ego and the self-protection around it, can lead to really dangerous things. Lutzer, Erwin W. (2018). The Church in Babylon. Chicago: Moody Publishers. p.207-208. ISBN 9780802413086. Why Be Catholic?: Understanding Our Experience and Tradition (with Joseph Martos) (Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 1989) ISBN 978-0-86716-101-4

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Jesus' Plan for a New World: The Sermon on the Mount (with J. Feister) (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1996) ISBN 978-0-86716-203-5 RR: And you know, much of my middle years was men’s work. If you think that’s true for women, it’s very true for men. We have a much more defended ego, a much more self-sufficient, well, I don’t have to tell women that, but we got a huge problem with the male in our culture. Look at the Senate and the House. I mean, my God. Rohr tries to use exceptions to make the rule, in the case of “salvation.” He says that because there are mentally ill people, we can’t believe “any of our theories about the necessity of some kind of correct thinking as the definition of ‘salvation.’” In his 2019 book The Universal Christ, Rohr says he is a panentheist. He goes on to state that panentheism is the true position of Jesus and Paul: God hides and is found, precisely in the depths of everything....Sin is to stay on the surface of even holy things...."

Falling Upward Quotes by Richard Rohr - Goodreads Falling Upward Quotes by Richard Rohr - Goodreads

The two tasks are as follows. The first is where we establish our primary identity, including a career, personal values, relationships, etc. BB: Yeah, they’ve changed. They’ve rearranged and changed. Your quotes have been a whomp upside the head, just if I want to be honest. Some of my whomps came right from you.

RR: Because I’m on the receiving end. I’m on the vulnerable end. You figure it out. Without vulnerability, you can’t get the gospel. You just can’t. If it’s another steering exercise, a way to steer my life. BB: Jails, prisons, and Brené. And let me tell you something. That’s not the distance you think it is.