Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer

This book is a tour de force! With casual broad strides Rohr points out the hollowness of secularism and points to the much needed spiritual depths we all thirst for, but few seem to find. If I were faced with the challenging task of naming my favorite Richard Rohr book I would name this one. I am amazed that it took me so long to read it. I read a bunch of his other work before digging in to Everything Belongs. The reason may have been the title. When I first saw the title it had the same ring of "It's all good," which I hear repeatedly, especially when I visit coastal California. When I got into the book, especially the ending (pages 177-182), I realized that the title was in reference to the cross. Most Christians, even Contemplative Christians try to hide, suppress, or deny the dread of the cross. Rohr tells us clearly that everything belongs, including the cross! The grotesque disfigured form of human suffering hanging on a tree belongs??!! For most people I know this is the most challenging symbol to come to terms with in Christian Tradition. Most of us would like to sidestep the cross. Yet, it is the very key to our awakening! It is the shadow that we scapegoat onto whole groups of people. It is the shadow that we project onto the poor. To Accept (with a capital A) the cross requires copious tears (Christian Mystics were known for crying often). To Accept (with a capital A) the cross is also in some way to reject what Dorothy Day called "the dirty rotten system." When we Accept the cross we are capable of solidarity with the homeless and poor. And we are capable of confronting the systems that victimize and deride the homeless and poor. When we Accept the cross we are showing that we are interested in wisdom, not mere knowledge. The path of the cross is the path of transformation. I am thankful to Rohr for his eloquent contemplative treatment of the cross. An Evangelical asked me the other day: "What is the meaning of the cross?" I pointed the man to pages 177-182 of Rohr's book. These pages were a grace to me, which I have read several times. They make more sense of the cross than anything else I have read. This book is a spiritual classic! -Amos Smith (author of Healing The Divide: Recovering Christianity's Mystic Roots)

This book fed my soul in a way I can’t put into words. I felt opened up and vulnerable when I finished it. It’s a document that says all I believe about my God and the world. Thank you, Fr. Rohr!

Everything belongs is a must read. I wish I was taught the ideas in this book instead of the dogmatic evangelical religion in which I was raised. This book will reinforce what you inherently know - that it’s okay and encourage you to not through the baby out with the bath water as it expounds on how the small mind and the big mind are both necessary for mature spirituality.

Rohr is not particularly systematic in this book, but one connects with him as a person in his writing and invited to deeper levels of prayer, consciousness, and faith. Lots of great one liners, paragraphs, etc to contemplate and pass along with others.

Fr Richard Rohr, a Franciscan monk, really gets into the heart of contemplative prayer. This is a book my church used for a discussion group. He takes the reader through the process step-by-step and uses philosophy and from other holy men and women, René Descartes, and other Zen masters. In addition, Rohr includes many Bible verses, which apply to the process of getting into contemplative prayer. Not only is this practice for personal reasons, but also for anything, everything, and everyone.

Fr Rohr gave me instruction to help me contemplate. Stay in the now moment, stay in the present. There is many more ideas to ponder in the book. I am not a Christian; I do not believe in god the bastard who condemns people who don't believe Jesus is the Christ. On the other hand if we try to follow Jesus's teaching, to love others, to treat others as we would like to be treated, to treat the earth and all nature with care, to do god's will, we will experience salvation in this life. In that sense, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. We won't always be happy, we will resist those who harm us--they harm other people too, but we will accept our fate.

During a time of "busyness" - this book will help solidify the reasons why you should enter into contemplative prayer. This isn't simply a book with a Christian worldview, but a God worldview. It is non-denominational and God-centric and touches on gems from other religious beliefs. Rohr teaches that through prayer, we can each have abundance in a world of "need more", connectedness in a world of "like" buttons, and a sense of a faith community that is unique and special as the "sons and daughters of God" -- who should simply be happy to be human. Rohr encourages his readers to step away from our own egos and fear-based religious belief systems and to join one another on earth in the proverbial "we." We are all filled with good/bad, joy/sadness, war/peace -- Rohr says, "Healthy religion is always about love. All we can do is get out of the way." Wonderful insight and thoughts for all who have

I have been a Richard Rohr fan it seems like forever! This is another easy-to read and understand book. A little more detailed than some of his books.

I bought it as a gift for my mother. She liked it.

Radical - yes! Revolutionary - yes! Inspiring - yes! Soothing - no! Reminds me of Eckhart's title 'Everything is Divine'. Not disappointed. In fact Rohr's book stirred up what I am beginning to realise about Christianity - the religion of my youth but one that I neglected for a period. Now I come back to it with my eyes wide open to the fact that though Christianity is about love it is not sweet sentimental love but a revolutionary, radical way of being and acting in the world. It is about letting go of who we think we are and of finding out who we really are -a painful but necessary process. Rohr speaks of the weeping, the cleansing that we need to do as we come to be more present with Divine Love. It is not for the faint-hearted. It is about TRUE love which often means taking up the cross and observing our own stream of consciousness which contains both the good and the shadow self. It is about understanding our own human nature. That can be a painful yet necessary process. Rohr invites us to persist and deepen our faith through contemplation. (There are no practical exercises on contemplation in this book. Those can be found in Fr Thomas Keating's book: 'Open mind, Open heart'). Rohr quotes from the teachings of Julian of Norwich and Teresa of Avila amongst others. Jesus's message is for everyone not just those who go to church on Sunday. Rohr mentions Simone Weil, Etty Hillsum, Gandhi and Nelson Mandela as people who do not formally belong to the church but seem to have truly lived the mystery of the suffering and joy of God. Living by God's choice and Grace is a transformative process and that is radical and at the same time neither soothing nor comfortable yet it brings with it sincere and profound faith in the good and bad of human history and moulds us into the instrument of the divine. We see the profound wound we carry and it is in that wound that the answer lies. 'God sees the wounds, and sees them not as scars but as honors ..' Julian of Norwich ('Revelations of Divine Love'). Everything in life belongs - this book is asking us to open our eyes to reality. This message is excellent and I pray more people stumble across and hear this profound but simple message. Amen.

Great information - most helpful

Great read

Rohr really digs deep into the true meaning of life. Opening your eyes to the things unseen. He helps make sense of Jesus parables and teachings and sheds light on what it truly means to be "born again". It is a fascinating read and I highly recommend it to anyone. In fact I will read it again and again.