Moving On

"Falling Upward" by Richard Rohr has been a wonderful blessing, as books go. Every chapter struck a chord from the past, "I knew that!" or "Yes, happened to me." or resonated with ideas that intrigue me for future use.

"Life is not, nor ever has been, a straight line forward."

"Well, after all is said and done, remember that church practice has been more influenced by Plato than Jesus."

"Every time God forgives us, God is saying that God's own rules do not matter as much as the relationship that God wants to create with us."

"Jesus' ability to find a higher order inside constant disorder is the very heart of his message--and why true Gospel, as rare as it might be, still heals and renews all that it touches."

"Salvation is not sin perfectly avoided, as the ego would prefer; but in fact, salvation is sin
turned on its head and used in our favor."

" I do not think you should get rid of your sin until you have learned what it has to teach you. Otherwise it will only return in new forms, as Jesus says of the 'unclean spirit' that returns to the house all 'swept and tidied' (Luke 11:24-26)

"God and Jesus' only job description is one of constant renewal of bad deals."

I highlighted so many phrases in the book, that I could go on and on. But I made myself choose one more for the road:

"Invariably when something upsets you, and you have a strong emotional reaction out of proportion to the moment, your shadow self has just been exposed. So watch for any overreactions or over denials. When you notice them, notice also that the cock of St. Peter has just crowed!

I am going to finish the final two small chapters tonight and give the book on to someone else tomorrow. I would love to have the book read by five others and then get together to talk about it , just for an hour? Probably not necessary, After someone reads this book, there will be a smile, and a nod of the head and we will both move on.