Falling Upward: A Spirituality For The Two Halves Of Life

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It was “an evacuation plan for the next world” to use Brian McLaren’s phrase—and just for their group. It follows, of course, that to judge or condemn these organizations is proof that we are still likely first-half-of-life people.

It does not matter if you are in the first half of life or the second, this book will speak to you and help you understand why you are where you are at this precise moment in your journey. He explains what should, but often doesn't happen in that first half of life; the consequences of our permanent cultural adolescence, and how we might grow beyond that adolescence into full, free, grace-filled selves. We begin to see that, as we grow older, we are being awakened to deep, simple, and mysterious things we simply could not see when we were younger. He doesn’t understand that Jesus didn’t die so that God would love us, but Jesus died because God loves us.When I counsel students, I cite from page 6 of this book that reminds us that "Be Not Afraid" is stated 365 times in the Bible. It reminded me that the nuns in middle school had warned me that I and my "discerning heart" would face great difficulties as I grew older, but that I was to persevere and stay true to my gift. In mid-May, violence between Gaza and Israel intensified to levels not seen for years, with Hamas shooting hundreds of rockets toward the Tel Aviv area and Israel retaliating with heavy strikes in . Franciscan priest Richard Rohr—author of, among other titles, The Naked Now and From Wild Man to Wise Man—has written his most sage, most important book yet.

This is not a book for people who believe that fundamentalism (of any type) is the road to salvation. Although there is much in this book that has given me hope, there was plenty to keep me humble, particularly as I recognize the extensive "shadow boxing" still required in my life. First for the insights I most appreciated, which I think come out of long pastoral work with people seeking to grow in their faith throughout life. It’s easy for us to be so content in the comfortable at “home” that we never venture out and thus never truly grow and understand.The value of this book lies in the way Richard Rohr shares his own aging process with us in ways that help us be less afraid.

If the packaging will no longer hold you with your new thoughts, knowledge, ideas, and actions the book suggests you become a new package! It is not objective at all but utterly subjective (which doesn't mean it does not have real influence). If change and growth are not programmed into your spirituality, if there are not serious warnings about the blinding nature of fear and fanaticism, your religion will always end up worshiping the status quo and protecting your present ego position and personal advantage as if it were God.

Then during the second half of life, the second mountain, we release it so that we might refill it with God and spirituality. The first task is to build a strong ‘container’ or identity; the second is to find the contents that the container was meant to hold. He suggests that "most groups and institutions (including churches) are first-half-of-life structures that are necessarily concerned with identity, boundaries, self-maintenance, self-perpetuation, and self-congratulation".

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. Although any Bible-reading Christian from a non-cult sect would say that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died to pay for the sins of man, Rohr tells us that there is no one theology of Jesus so there can’t be any true theology of Jesus.

Odysseus this and that, Lady Julian “fall…and…recover(y)…both are the mercy of God”, Carl Jung almost every chapter. As we grow into a "second half of life spirituality", we become more loving, more inclusive, more compassionate, more introspective. A second place is Rohr's proposal that "heaven" and "hell" have to do with our consciousness, rather than ultimate destinies. Until we learn to love others as ourselves, it’s difficult to blame broken people who desperately try to affirm themselves when no one else will. actually Alcoholics Anonymous Annie Dillard become Big Picture CARL JUNG Catholic CHAPTER Christian church consciousness Contemplation create dance death deep deeper divine dualistic elders Enneagram fact falling upward father first-half-of-life Franciscan freedom further journey Gerard Manley Hopkins Gospel grace grow healing heaven hero hold Holy human identity inner inside invariably Jesus John Julian of Norwich Jung Ken Wilber kind let go lives loyal soldier Luke Matthew mature meaning mirror move mystery mystics myths nature necessary suffering never Odysseus ourselves paradox pattern person Plotkin religion religious Richard Rohr sadness second half second simplicity second-half-of-life seems Serene Disciple shadow soul Spiral Dynamics spiritual stages story stumbling stone T.