A visit from an old friend

"Here, I had forgotten I had this." My sister handed me my copy of "Falling Upward" by Richard Rohr and I swear all I could do was utter a small gasp! All of Father Rohr's works render me speechless, but "Falling Upward" had ushered me along to new paths. As I thumbed through a couple of pages, I smiled and thought, "Yes, I had forgotten I had this to." For the life of me, right now I could not tell you one line from the book. I had read all those pages quickly the first time through, then  gave it away to others. Those that read those pages of Rohr's insights,simply smiled as they gave it back. That look said it all. Sharing Rohr binds people.  Now, though, I seem to have  amnesia about who I had promised to give the book to. Maybe a slow read will jog my memory? Only a  slow read, the memorization of  lines, and  resting with Rohr will convince me to part with those pages again. I  need Father Rohr right now in my life.

I flipped through  the pages of the book and found quotes from Thomas Merton's "When in the Soul of the Seren Disciple".  I also found:

"When you have made it all the way to the bottom of who you think you are, or need to be, when your humiliating shadow work never stops, and when your securities and protective boundaries mean less and less, and your "salvation project" had failed you"

"When you have faced the hurt and the immense self-doubt brought on by good people , family, and even friends who do not understand you, who criticize you, or even delight at your wrongness"

"The inner life of quiet, solitude, and contemplation is the only way to find your ground and purpose now. Go nowhere else for sustenance."    

I will not go elsewhere. I have an old friend to visit.