Big Idea Daily | Falling Upward
 |
A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Lifeby Richard Rohr |
“One of the guiding principles of our Center for Action and Contemplation puts it this way: ‘The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.’”RICHARD ROHR |
BIG IDEA
The Two Major Tasks of life
FROM THE BOOK“There is much evidence on several levels that there are at least two major tasks to human life.
The first task is to build a strong ‘container’ or identity; the second is to find the contents that the container was meant to hold. The first task we take for granted as the very purpose of life, which does not mean we do it well. The second task, I am told, is more encountered than sought; few arrive at it with much preplanning, purpose, or passion. So you might wonder if there is much point in providing a guide to the territory ahead of time. Yet that is exactly why we must. It is vitally important to know what is coming and being offered to us all.”
|
Brian's Notes
That’s from the Introduction. (We’re now on page xi. :)
As I mentioned in our little intro, I got this book after reading David Brooks’ The Second Mountain. After reading Father Richard’s take on the subject, you can see just how deeply David was inspired by and influenced by Richard’s profound spiritual wisdom.
What Richard calls “the two tasks of life” or “the two halves of life,” David calls “the two mountains of life.”
Same essential idea.
The first task/first half/first mountain of life is all about “surviving successfully.”
But…
Richard (and David) tell us that there’s a task both “within the task” and BEYOND the task. We need to move beyond creating a life the world expects from us and answer the call of our soul.
To repeat: “There is much evidence on several levels that there are at least two major tasks to human life. The first task is to build a strong ‘container’ or identity; the second is to find the contents that the container was meant to hold.“
Helping us navigate the path from one mountain to the next and stepping up to our ultimate task is what this book is all about. In the process, we move from what Richard calls the “survival dance” to the “sacred dance.”
Let’s explore some ideas on how we go about doing that…
Big Ideas
01: THE LIGHT BULBS
02: LIFE’S TWO MAJOR TASKS
03: THE WAY UP
04: THE HERO + HEROINE
05: THE PARADOX OF THE EGO
“As Desmond Tutu once told me on a recent trip to Cape Town, ‘We are only the light bulbs, Richard, and our job is just to remain screwed in!’”RICHARD ROHR |
Get all 700+ notesĀ and 101 masterclasses.
Master the Big Ideas from the best books in under 20 minutes a day for one lifetime payment of $99.
