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There’s a part of me that still can’t believe I went to Albuquerque and got to sit down with Father Richard Rohr. This was on the calendar for a year—and in that time, his work has come to mean even so much more to me.
Richard is a Franciscan friar and teacher of Christian mysticism and tradition. He founded the Center for Action and Contemplation. It is incredible to me that he has never taken a salary, he lives in a little cottage on-site, and he devotes his life to this center, which essentially is trying to expand compassionate engagement in the world.
He has written some of the most beautiful books, including his latest, out this week, called The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage.
This conversation with Richard did not disappoint. I was on the verge of tears at times, but I also laughed out loud often. Richard told me about the difference between a priest and a prophet—and how a prophet is powerfully, and vulnerably, speaking against their own group—not against an “other.”
We talked about the process of moving from order, to disorder, to reorder—and back around all again. We talked about why the ego loves to think it has dismissed evil, but usually this is a sign that we’ve just continued evil in a different form. We talked about feeling it all—anger, grief, and so on. And how this can be a fulcrum to growth. We talked about why it’s so important to critique systems instead of just accusing individuals. And why Richard puts action before contemplation—because you do not have anything to contemplate until you have acted in the world, as he says.
I’m so grateful for this conversation with Richard Rohr.
MORE FROM FATHER RICHARD ROHR:
EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:
ELISE:
So speaking of the timing of things and The Tears of Things, this book feels prescient, prophetic, and like an essential balm or guide for this moment in time, and I wish it weren't to be honest.