Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B0054U2Q9O | Format: PDF
Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life Description
In the first half of life, we are naturally preoccupied with establishing ourselves; climbing, achieving, and performing. But as we grow older and encounter challenges and mistakes, we need to see ourselves in a different and more life-giving way. This message of falling down - that is in fact moving upward - is the most resisted and counterintuitive of messages in the world's religions.
Falling Upward offers a new paradigm for understanding one of the most profound of life's mysteries: how those who have fallen down are the only ones who understand "up". We grow spiritually more by doing it wrong than by doing it right, and the disappointments of life are actually stepping stones to the spiritual joys in the second half of life.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 6 hours and 31 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Dreamscape Media
- Audible.com Release Date: June 7, 2011
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B0054U2Q9O
Age old questions. Why do bad things happen to good people? How can I survive the death of my loved one, the sickness of my child, or my pending divorce? "Falling Upwards" helps us with these questions.
Falling Upwards challenges the reader to examine his life experience and re-evaluate his path. This is a superior book about human spiritual growth and approach to contentment. How do I grow? What is my road to serenity - to happiness? How can I best adjust to my problems? Why do I sometimes feel conflicted when I am not secure? When I lose? When I make a mistake?
Considering that the author is a Franciscan Priest, one might expect this book to be religious and focused upon the Catholic Church. It is not. Falling Upwards is a spiritual text with pearls of wisdom that transcend religion. It is spiritual in the sense that it focuses upon our individual spirit and our growth to true happiness. Falling Upwards is deeply psychological. It helps us focus upon the growth of our psyche and our search for maturity.
Rohr explains that human development can be viewed in two stages. The first phase of our life is about building our self concept, security, relationships, and place in the community. The primary focus in this stage is upon self and our survival. Some people live their entire life in this first stage.
The second phase of human growth is focused upon discovering our real self, searching for the roots of our self, and discovering our true worth. In the second half of life we learn patience, forgiveness, and concern for other people. The second half is where we become much more serene and contented.
Rohr teaches us that we must experience success in early life to build a strong self image.
Fr. Rohr is known for speaking clearly, prophetically, and with wisdom.
Falling Upward, his latest work, is an amalgam of insight drawn from the Christian tradition, the field of psychology, epic poetry, and contemporary spirituality. There is no shortage of interesting analogies, fresh connections, and surprising verities in this book, primarily on the concept of identity, and the strong need we have as human beings to construct containers within which we can seek to understand ourselves, followed by the deeper calling to transcend and surpass that container in ways that both embrace and challenge our existing identities. Rohr presents an understanding of Christian spirituality that is defined by curiosity, deep humility, and expandingly inclusivity. It is a vision I am certain many will find very compelling.
Rohr's greatest contribution in this book, in my opinion, is his incisive and insightful commentary on the ongoing journey that is both life and faith, if the two can be divorced. He rightly names the "first-half-of-life" culture that dominates the landscape in the United States, the ongoing desire many of us have to define ourselves by some type of success or acclaim, such as a career, or financial independence, or social status. He identifies how these quests often leave those who complete those journeys with a deep emptiness, and without discerning "the quest within the quest," a greater journey that leads beyond those initial identity markers to a deeper sense and experience of what it means to be human, life is left unfulfilled. Rohr argues that the spiritual life is something more, something deeper, something that God has designed as being the fulfillment of the deepest human desires.
Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life Preview
Link
Please Wait...