I’m thrilled that Richard is coming to campus this week to lecture on "Contemplative Mind as an Alternative Consciousness" for the annual Tipple-Vosburgh Lectures at Drew University. If you are near Madison, NJ, be sure to join us on Tuesday , October 19, at 7:30pm at the Dorothy Young Center.
My good friend, Jeff Markay, introduced me to the works of Richard Rohr a few years ago, and I’ve found myself listening to his tapes over and over to gain new insights. Known for his articulation of a “Spirituality of Imperfection” for the second half of life, Rohr speaks deeply to my heart and to thousands of others, and I commend him to my audience. In reading his book on the Enneagram, I learned that I am a Seven and how to get along with a Five. In listening to his tapes on Saint Paul and Franciscan Spirituality, I heard the Gospel of Jesus in a radical way that I had not heard it before. And in listening several times to “A Spirituality of Imperfection” I gained a new appreciation for contemplative prayer and, a least for a moment, grasped his notion of “non-dualistic thinking”—the treasure of the mystics.
Next to Henri Nouwen, Richard Rohr has impacted my spiritual life more than any other spiritual writer, and I am absolutely thrilled that he’s coming to Drew.
Not too late to register: www.drew.edu/tipple .
More information: Contact Nancy VanderVeen at nvanderveen@drew.edu
No where near Drew this week? Google him and get one of his tapes or books.
Background on Rohr:
Richard Rohr, O.F.M. is a Franciscan of the New Mexico Province. He was the founder of the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1971, and the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) in Albuquerque, NM in 1986, where he presently serves as Founding Director. He founded the Center to serve as a “school for prophetic thinking,” to encourage lay leadership, and what he calls “a new reformation from within.”
Fr. Richard is probably best known for his writings and numerous audio and video recordings that are distributed by St. Anthony Messenger Press, Crossroad Publishers, and Orbis Press, as well as through The Mustard Seed, the CAC’s resource center. He is often introduced as “the most taped and recorded Catholic priest in America.” Some of his more well-known books include Everything Belongs, Simplicity, From Wild Man to Wise Man, Quest for the Grail, Adam’s Return, Things Hidden, and Job and the Mystery of Suffering. His most widely distributed talks are his recorded conferences on “The Enneagram,” “Breathing Under Water,” and “The Great Themes of Paul.” His latest book, The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See, was published by Crossroad Press in September, 2009.
Fr. Richard entered the Franciscans in 1961 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1970. He received his Master’s Degree in Theology from Dayton that same year. He now lives in a hermitage behind his Franciscan community in Albuquerque, and divides his time between working at the CAC and preaching and teaching on all continents. He considers the proclamation of the Gospel to be his primary call and uses many different platforms to communicate his messages. Scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace and justice issues, church reform, contemplative prayer and non-dualistic thinking, male spirituality, the Enneagram, and eco-spirituality are the principle themes of his teaching.