Synopses & Reviews
This perennial book features daily meditations, each written by Rohr and adapted or excerpted from his many written and recorded works. The meditations are arranged around seven themes:
- Methodology: Scripture as validated by experience, and experience as validated by tradition, are good scales for one’s spiritual worldview
- Foundation: If God is Trinity and Jesus is the face of God, then it is a benevolent universe. God is not someone to be afraid of, but is the Ground of Being and on our side.
- Frame: There is only one Reality. Any distinction between natural and supernatural, sacred and profane is a bogus one.
- Ecumenical: Everything belongs and no one needs to be scapegoated or excluded. Evil and illusion only need to be named and exposed truthfully, and they die in exposure to the light.
- Transformation: The separate self is the problem, whereas most religion and most people make the “shadow self” the problem. This leads to denial, pretending, and projecting instead of real transformation into the Divine.
- Process: The path of descent is the path of transformation. Darkness, failure, relapse, death, and woundedness are our primary teachers, rather than ideas or doctrines.
- Goal: Reality is paradoxical and complementary. Non-dual thinking is the highest level of consciousness. Divine union, not private perfection, is the goal of all religion.
Yes, and...is an excellent daily prayer resource for fans of Richard Rohr’s work, and those who are looking for an alternate way to live out their faith—a way centered in the open-minded search for spiritual relevance of a transforming nature.
Review
In this magisterial collection of daily spiritual readings, Rohr gives us a treasure-trove of insights into the contemporary religious scene in all its dramatic variety....In Rohr's understanding of things, unlearning plays a huge role in the second half of life when we are squaring off against debilitation and death. "Divine union, not private perfection is the goal of all religion," writes Rohr in "Goal." Here he delivers a set of snappy essays on wonderment, starting with yes, smiling as a form of salvation, unitive consciousness, the mystery of presence, and the freedom of not knowing. This sterling collection of meditations is part of Rohr's legacy work in seven parts. By the time you finish reading it, you will have a deep sense of communion with this priest and his visionary Christianity!
—Frederic and Mary Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Review
What Rohr has given us…is a collection of 366 meditations—one for every day of the year—to help us figure out what it means to wrestle with our Christian faith.… Rohr is convincing when he argues that "Jesus consistently ignored or even denied exclusionary, punitive and triumphalist texts in His own Jewish Bible in favour of passages that emphasized inclusion, mercy and honesty."
In his view, it is past time to do away with literal readings of the Bible, and it is time to read our Bibles within the contexts of both our own lives and our own political time. It is time to end theological eliteness and recognize that Jesus’ ministry, which we seek to emulate, was both humble and revolutionary. Such an approach brings us into a true liberation theology, for ourselves, our churches and our world.
—Sara Stratton, Catholic Register, Toronto
Review
"Books of meditations can be boring and bland, but the meditations Rohr has selected for
Yes, And... are exciting, soul-renewing, and deep."
—Tikkun Recommends", Tikkun magazine
Review
In this magisterial collection of daily spiritual readings, Rohr gives us a treasure-trove of insights into the contemporary religious scene in all its dramatic variety....In Rohr's understanding of things, unlearning plays a huge role in the second half
Review
What Rohr has given us
is a collection of 366 meditations—one for every day of the year—to help us figure out what it means to wrestle with our Christian faith.
Rohr is convincing when he argues that ""Jesus consistently ignored or even denie
Review
These themes divide all entries into seven sections. They are like facets of a single diamond, each one shedding new light as one turns the stone. They are interconnected and overlapping, yielding some repetition. Items in 3 are implied in 7, nonduality. They read like educational objectives to train spiritual directors. That seems to be what Rohr has been doing: lecturing, writing twenty books, and creating groups like the Center for Action and Contemplation.
Rohr has a gift to put real-life experiences into clear words and alternative viewpoints. Speaking of the “beginner’s mind,” he says people tell him, “You did not tell me anything new…you just gave me the courage to believe it” (411). His New Testament interpretations are keen. More than once he made me check the Greek, not because of his modern translations, but to go deeper with him into its meaning. Wisdom of world religions is integrated into his analyses. His use of Jungian and psychological terms is ever present: ego, unconscious, shadow self, the second half of life. His aim for the nondual, yes/and tradition, puts the reader on a thrilling chase into the world of action and contemplation, on the path of mystical pioneers. Besides great biblical figures, Mary, Jesus, and Magdalene, his mystical mentors make frequent appearances: Francis, Clare, Bonaventure, Scotus, Julian of Norwich, John of the Cross, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Thomas Merton. His strongest words are against secret systems of disguised violence that legitimize “group egocentricity” and tyrannical “social systems” (216 ff).
His most striking sections, 5 and 6, lead the reader on a mystical journey of conversion through shame, fear, guilt, the wounds of Christ by way of descent, and self-emptying into forgiveness and the heart of God. St. Paul knows the way” “It is when I am weak that I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10) (325)....“Perfectionism,” mistakenly attributed to Mt 5:48, is well countered by the principle that “the perfect is the greatest obstacle to the good.” Another principle deserves repeating: “If you do not transform your pain, you will always transmit it” (259, 275). ...The book closes with four pages of resources that indicate some major authors behind the insights of each of the seven thematic sections.
I recommend this book to family, friends, and colleagues in search of deeper spirituality. —John B. Lounibos, Catholic Library World
Review
"Rohr's pungent insights are a bitter and soothing balm for our wounded souls and world. That they seem to strange, shocking and counterintuitive only proves how poorly we have understood our own tradition, and grievously deformed it."
— National Catholic Reporter
Review
Rohr has a gift to put real-life experiences into clear words and alternative viewpoints. Speaking of the “beginner’s mind,” he says people tell him, “You did not tell me anything new…you just gave me the courage to believe it”...I recommend this book to family, friends, and colleagues in search of deeper spirituality.
—John B. Lounibos, Catholic Library World
Synopsis
Featuring meditations and prayers for every day of the year, Yes, And... supports the reader on their journey with their Christian faith. It offers a refreshing and open-minded approach to living out your faith. World-renowned spiritual teacher Richard Rohr offers an extensive collection of his thoughts and teachings for the reader to apply to their daily life. This guide supports those on their journey to find spiritual relevance in an open-minded way through excerpts from his many written and recorded works.
This deeply uplifting and all-encompassing book is broken down to seven different spiritual themes that follow.
Methodology: Scripture as validated by experience, and experience as validated by tradition, are good scales for one's spiritual worldview. Foundation: If God is Trinity and Jesus is the face of God, then it is a benevolent universe. God is not someone to be afraid of but is the Ground of Being and on our side. Frame: There is only one reality. Any distinction between natural and supernatural, sacred and profane is a bogus one. Ecumenical: Everything belongs, and no one needs to be scapegoated or excluded. Evil and illusion only need to be named and exposed truthfully, and they die in exposure to the light. Transformation: The separate self is the problem, whereas most religion and most people make the "shadow self" the problem. This leads to denial, pretending, and projecting instead of real transformation into the Divine. Process: The path of descent is the path of transformation. Darkness, failure, relapse, death, and woundedness are our primary teachers, rather than ideas or doctrines. Goal: Reality is paradoxical and complementary. Non-dual thinking is the highest level of consciousness. Divine union, not private perfection, is the goal of all religion.
About the Author
Fr. Richard Rohr is a globally recognized ecumenical teacher bearing witness to the universal awakening within Christian mysticism and the Perennial Tradition. He is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fr. Richard's teaching is grounded in the Franciscan alternative orthodoxy—practices of contemplation and lived kenosis (self-emptying), expressing itself in radical compassion, particularly for the socially marginalized. Fr. Richard is the author of numerous books, including Everything Belongs, Adam’s Return, The Naked Now, Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, and Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi. Fr. Richard is academic Dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation. Drawing upon Christianity's place within the Perennial Tradition, the mission of the Living School is to produce compassionate and powerfully learned individuals who will work for positive change in the world based on awareness of our common union with God and all beings. Visit cac.org for more information.