Falling Upward: No Editing Required

I attended a book study on Richard Rohr’s Falling Upward this afternoon. (I wrote a post about Rohr’s book previously.) Group members discussed “Chapter 4: The Tragic Sense of Life.” The tragic sense of life results from the realization that life is more about disorder and flaws than it is about order and perfection. Accepting the world’s disorder—embracing it, actually—is a necessary skill for personal growth in the second half (or spiritual half) of our lives.

We try so hard to impose on the world our desire for order. We want things to be perfect; we want to make progress, to be productive. We want to be in control. The end result isn’t pretty—not for us personally and not for the world (think war and violence and just about every “ism” you can come up with).

There was lots of good discussion at the book study, but the tragic sense of life won’t be managed or grasped or contained by any words I can string together here, and I know it.

Hey. Did I just give up trying to instill a little order around here? A little of my own point of view, my thoughts, my analysis? It feels good, actually, to simply accept what is.

In Acts, Jesus asks Paul why he is “kicking against the goads.” It’s time to stop kicking, because life is unravelling exactly as it will: no editing required on my part.