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A review by lory_enterenchanted
Falling Upward by Richard Rohr
Update: read for a second time as required preparatory reading for a Spiritual Direction training that I'm starting. I was less troubled by the problems I complained about below and found lots of valuable nuggets to think about. Rohr does say what he is talking about is not a chronological phenomenon exclusively. And he does describe what it involves, using some compelling images. I don't know why I was so dissatisfied before. I do see in my own journey how confusion about first-half and second-half of life goals caused me a lot of suffering. Just sorting those out can help a lot.
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I really love Rohr's core message in all the books I've read. I do wish he would resort less to emotionally-charged assertions and sweeping generalities and ground his argument more in well-developed, thought-through particulars. In this case, I think one could better pinpoint what "second-half-of-life" spirituality really involves. What he's talking about does not happen exclusively after middle age, nor is it an inevitable development -- it is possible to age and not mature, while there are young people who are wise beyond their years. And what exactly is it about the process of aging that brings us to the challenging point of transformation? Once more, I find much more satisfying explanations in the ideas of anthroposophy, which give a thorough picture of the different "members" of the human being and of how their relationship to each other and the outer world metamorphose through life. On the other hand, Rohr's compassion, humility, and heartfulness are refreshing, and much needed in order to enliven more cerebral considerations. I wish these two streams could come together for a powerful, fully effective approach to the desperate spiritual needs of our time.
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I really love Rohr's core message in all the books I've read. I do wish he would resort less to emotionally-charged assertions and sweeping generalities and ground his argument more in well-developed, thought-through particulars. In this case, I think one could better pinpoint what "second-half-of-life" spirituality really involves. What he's talking about does not happen exclusively after middle age, nor is it an inevitable development -- it is possible to age and not mature, while there are young people who are wise beyond their years. And what exactly is it about the process of aging that brings us to the challenging point of transformation? Once more, I find much more satisfying explanations in the ideas of anthroposophy, which give a thorough picture of the different "members" of the human being and of how their relationship to each other and the outer world metamorphose through life. On the other hand, Rohr's compassion, humility, and heartfulness are refreshing, and much needed in order to enliven more cerebral considerations. I wish these two streams could come together for a powerful, fully effective approach to the desperate spiritual needs of our time.