Falling Upward A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life

by Rohr, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780470907757
• ISBN10: 0470907754
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-04-19
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

In Falling Upward, Richard Rohr seeks to help readers understand the tasks of the two halves of life and to show them that those who have gone "down" are the only ones who understand "up." Those who have somehow fallen, and fallen well, are the only ones who can grow spiritually and not misuse "up". More than anything else, he describes what "up" (in the second half of life) will look like and could look like.Most of us tend to think of the second half of life as largely about getting old, dealing with health issues, and letting go of life, but the whole thesis of this book is exactly the opposite. What looks like falling down can largely be experienced as "falling upward." In fact, it is not a loss but somehow actually a gain, as we have all seen with elders who have come to their fullness, and life flows out from them naturally.

Author Biography

Fr. Richard Rohr is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province. He founded the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1986, where he presently serves as Founding Director. Fr. Rohr is the author of more than twenty books, an internationally known speaker, and a regular contributing writer for Sojourners and Tikkun magazines, and the CAC's quarterly journal, Radical Grace.

Table of Contents

The Invitation to a Further Journey	p. vii
Introduction	p. xiii
The Two Halves of Life	p. 1
The Hero and Heroine's Journey	p. 17
The First Half of Life	p. 25
The Tragic Sense of Life	p. 53
Stumbling over the Stumbling Stone	p. 65
Necessary Suffering	p. 73
Home and Homesickness	p. 87
Amnesia and the Big Picture	p. 97
A Second Simplicity	p. 105
A Bright Sadness	p. 117
The Shadowlands	p. 127
New Problems and New Directions	p. 137
Falling Upward	p. 153
Coda	p. 161
Notes	p. 169
Bibliography	p. 177
The Author	p. 183
Index	p. 185
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