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Falling upward
199 pages
A reassuring and contemplative exploration of how our greatest failures and the aging process actually propel us into deeper spiritual fullness.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting with a wise elder who gently dismantles everything you thought you knew about success, failure, and getting older. It moves at a steady, contemplative pace, creating an atmosphere that is deeply reassuring and expansive. Instead of treating the second half of life as a period of decline or mere letting go, the text reframes aging and past mistakes as the very catalysts for profound spiritual richness. The prose is thoughtful and accessible, guiding the reader through the counterintuitive idea that we grow more by getting things wrong than by getting them right. It is a perfect fit for anyone seeking a hopeful, spiritually grounded perspective on life's later chapters and the hidden gains found within our losses.
- Mood
- contemplative
- hopeful
- reassuring
- expansive
- Tone
- reflective
- encouraging
- philosophical
- earnest
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- spiritual growth through failure · the second half of life · finding gain in loss · aging as spiritual richness · counterintuitive wisdom
- The writing
- Thoughtful and accessible, delivering counterintuitive spiritual concepts with clarity and warmth.
- The arc
- Moves from a reevaluation of past failures and losses toward a hopeful, expansive embrace of aging and spiritual fullness.
- Who it's for
- Readers seeking a hopeful, spiritually rich perspective on aging, failure, and the deeper meaning of life's later stages.
Content notes
- aging
- discussion of failure and loss
About the book
"A fresh way of thinking about spirituality that grows throughout life. In Falling Upward, Fr. Richard Rohr seeks to help readers understand the tasks of the two halves of life and to show them that those who have fallen, failed, or "gone down" are the only ones who understand "up." 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.?? Explains why the second half of life can and should be full of spiritual richness Offers a new view of how spiritual growth happens loss is gain Richard Rohr is a regular contributing writer for Sojourners and Tikkun magazines This important book explores the counterintuitive message that we grow spiritually much more by doing wrong than by doing right."--
Description from Open Library.
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