Pain that is not transformed is transmitted. Richard Rohr More Quotes by Richard Rohr More Quotes From Richard Rohr As you look back on a year almost ended, recall the ways in which God has been inviting you to return, again and again, to Love which is the same as returning to God Richard Rohr lookswayyears In silence all our usual patterns assault us ... That is why most people give up rather quickly. When Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, the first things to show up were the wild beasts. Richard Rohr giving-uppeoplejesus The cross solved our problem by first revealing our real problem, our universal pattern of scapegoating and sacrificing others. The cross exposes forever the scene of our crime. Richard Rohr sacrificerealforever God comes to you disguised as your life. Richard Rohr Worship of Jesus is rather harmless and risk-free; actually following Jesus changes everything. Richard Rohr riskworshipjesus If unconditional love, loyalty, and obedience are the tickets to an eternal life, then my black Labrador, Venus, will surely be there long before me, along with all the dear animals in nature who care for their young at great cost to themselves and have suffered so much at the hands of humans. Richard Rohr unconditional-loveloyaltyanimal The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better. Richard Rohr criticismpractice When you get your,'Who am I?', question right, all of your,'What should I do?' questions tend to take care of themselves Richard Rohr take-carecareshould The most amazing fact about Jesus, unlike almost any other religious founder, is that he found God in disorder and imperfection—and told us that we must do the same or we would never be content on this earth. Richard Rohr imperfectionreligiousjesus The two Virtues of Equanimity and Compassion become more available to the person whose ego-shell has been smashed-either by great suffering or by great love-or by both. Richard Rohr great-lovecompassiontwo We all become well-disguised mirror image of anything that we fight too long or too directly. That which we oppose determines the energy and frames the questions after a while. Most frontal attacks on evil just produce another kind of evil in yourself, along with a very inflated self-image to boot. Richard Rohr fightingmirrorsself You cannot be naïve about evil. You cannot be naïve to the reality that there are human beings and human situations which have totally identified with the dark side of reality. They are malicious. Realism teaches you to put up appropriate boundaries so that people can't do any more evil than possible. But that doesn't mean you do evil back to them. Richard Rohr darkmeanreality I think your heart needs to be broken, and broken open, at least once to have a heart at all or to have a heart for others. Richard Rohr kindnessheartthinking If our love of God does not directly influence, and even change, how we engage in the issues of our time on this earth, I wonder what good religion is. Richard Rohr issuesearthdoe There has to be a womp on the side of the head that defeats and undercuts this game of performance. It has to fall apart. Now unfortunately, that very often does not happen until what I call the second half of life, when there's been enough death in the family and you start experiencing your own physical deterioration. Richard Rohr gamessidesfall God tries to first create a joyous yes inside of you, far more than any kind of no . . . Just saying no is resentful dieting, whereas finding your deeper yes, and eating from that table, is always a spiritual banquet. Richard Rohr saying-nospiritualtrying Famine, poverty, abuse, you can't keep that all blocked out. If you let those things teach you, influence you, change you, those are the events that transition you without you even knowing it to become more compassionate. Richard Rohr abuseeventsknowing The great and merciful surprise is that we come to God, not by doing it right, but by doing it wrong. Richard Rohr mercifulsurprise You surrender to love; you do not accomplish love by willpower. Richard Rohr willpowersurrenderlove-you You cannot grow in the integrative dance of action and contemplation without a strong tolerance for ambiguity, an ability to allow, forgive, and contain a certain degree of anxiety, and a willingness to not know-and not even need to know. This ever widens and deepens your perspective. This is how you allow and encounter Mystery and move into the contemplative zone. Richard Rohr perspectivestrongmoving
