He puts all of “Christian Europe” at fault for entering into WWI + WWII, and implies that they shouldn’t have tolerated those wars (leaving the option of tolerating Hitler and Stalin’s destruction of millions of people). He also reminds us that the “official church” (whatever that means) doesn’t say that Hitler and Stalin are in hell (a place that is merely where we put ourselves by not growing). In this last section of our Blink to Richard Rohr’s Falling Upward we’re going to look at what the second half of life holds for us and some of the ways in which it differs from the first half. The first thing Rohr tells us is that the seriousness of the second half of life is characterized by what he calls “a bright sadness and a sober happiness.” Although there is still darkness, we’re able to cope with it with less anxiety. We think differently, too. We have less of a need to hold on to hurts from the past and less of a desire to judge others. We lose our feelings of superiority. And we learn not only to stop fighting stupidity but to actively ignore it. We work for change, using our influence to persuade quietly. In other words, we fill up our identity with the first task, and the second task is all about finding what we should feel that container with.

I have prayed for years for one good humiliation a day, and then, I must watch my reaction to it. I have no other way of spotting both my denied shadow self and my idealized persona.” Fr. Richard is author of numerous books, including Everything Belongs, Adam’s Return, The Naked Now, Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, Eager to Love, and The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (with Mike Morrell). Until we learn to love others as ourselves, it’s difficult to blame broken people who desperately try to affirm themselves when no one else will.”

Understanding the spiritual aspects of aging is as important as appreciating the systems and biological processes that age us. Richard Rohr has given us a perfect guide to what he calls the "further journey," a voyage into the mystery and beauty of healthy spiritual maturity. - Mehmet Oz, M.D., host of the 'Dr. Oz Show' Rohr says this: “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.“ Whatever good, true, or perfect things we can say about humanity or creation, we can say of God exponentially. God is the beauty of creation and humanity multiplied to the infinite power.” Most of us were taught that God would love us if and when we change. In fact, God loves you so that you can change. What empowers change, what makes you desirous of change is the experience of love. It is that inherent experience of love that becomes the engine of change.” Rohr's message about the two halves of life ("young" and "old") is that essentially one has to fail or descend in some way before one can rise and ascend. On an obvious level, as one ages, one begins to lose strength, health, and finally life itself. Some people never recover from the experience and spend all of their time lamenting their decline and fall. I remember my mother, ordinarily a upbeat person, during her late 80's saying, "getting old is hell."

But alas it feel from the sky to the very depths of the underworld. I could not continue with it and stopped at Chapter 6 with 6 more chapters to go. There’s a book called The Second Mountain, another book on purpose that we don’t cover in this round up. But it’s worth pointing out one feature of that book, what gives it its name.Using poetry, a lot of Biblical Scripture, Depth and Self Psychology, Mythology and a Wisdom Literature from a broad spectrum of faith systems, the author makes a strong argument for his case. He speaks clearly of the need to embrace the pain and tragedy common to life, letting it teach us the richness that comes from living full and which can occur only by surrendering what we think we know and the expectations of how things should be. Only by doing so can one fill the “container” of life’s “first half,” giving it meaning definition and the wideness of true freedom.