“For some reason, religious people tend to confuse the means with the actual goal. In the beginning, you tend to think that God really cares about your exact posture, the exact day of the week for public prayer, the authorship and wordings of your prayers, and other such things.
Once your life has become a constant communion, you know that all the techniques, formulas, sacraments, and practices were just a dress rehearsal for the real thing—life itself—which can actually become a constant intentional prayer. Your conscious and loving existence gives glory to God.” (Richard Rohr, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, Kindle Loc.460)
I haven’t read him, but people keep sending me this quote which must be from one of his books? It has really been a Godsend, “The prophet is not an outsider throwing rocks, nor a comfortable insider who defends the status quo; but one who lives precariously with two perspectives held tightly together in a loving and creative tension: the faithful insider and the critical outsider. ”
-RICHARD ROHR
Yeah, he’s got some good stuff to say. The quote I gave was from his book, “Falling Upward,” which basically debunks the myth of retirement. We may retire from our job but never the Kingdom! The first half of our life is designed to set us up for the second half of our life, which is where real fruitfulness can happen.
Btw, I love your quote, too! Amen.