Everything Belongs Book Review

Last updated on: December 30, 2009 at 9:02 am by Tim Suttle

Everything Belongs Book Review 2009-12-30T09:02:00-07:00 Tim Suttle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer. New York, NY: Crossroads Publishing Company, 2003.

Richard Rohr, A Franciscan monk who writes and teaches in the field of Christian spirituality and men’s ministry, has made a real contribution with his work, Everything Belongs. The primary thesis of the book is that the “egoic-operating system,” which is simply a reference to a person who operates chiefly out of the personal ego, must be dealt with in order to be transformed by God. We cannot be highly transformed people without dealing with our egocentrism.
.
Rohr describes what he terms as “dividing the field” which is simply a dualistic way of meeting reality that functionally divides all people, places and things we encounter into things we like and things we don’t like, things which are good and bad, etc. Rohr believes the Christian story is necessarily non-dualistic. In order to live deeply in the Christian story, one must learn to get beyond the egoic operating system to the place of true wisdom as taught and lived by Jesus. This only happens through great suffering, great love, or contemplation.
.
Contemplation is merely the process of learning to catch one’s self in playing dualistic, egocentric, small-self games. I once heard him say that contemplation is so easy, that it’s hard to teach. It’s certainly not new to us, but is an ancient practice. Dualism is pounded into us by the culture in which we live. The enlightenment/modern era is predicated on dualistic categories – it cannot function without them. This is why there is often a vitriolic, hateful response to the teachings of Christian contemplation. Once the innate dualism is subverted, then “everything belongs,” which is to say that we meet reality without initially judging it – dividing the field – but forgive all of reality for its shortcomings in real time. We no longer need to prove we are right and others are wrong. Instead we accept them as they are and invite them to deeper levels of understanding and wisdom by our hospitality and bearing. We also come to see that the pain and suffering of life belongs as well. It is part of our experience and is important. God uses it to transform us as well as others around us.
.
Rohr invites the reader to give up on our patterns of judgment, control, in order to embrace the teachings of Jesus which he says involved “integrating the negative.” He argues the entire gospel is based on the idea that Jesus, when faced with the negative, did not eliminate it, but found a way to include it and eventually to redeem it. This is the ministry we have all been given. I heard Rohr say once that one of the chief issues with the way we read the gospels, is that we are trying to read a non-dualistic teacher through dualistic lenses. In other words, we make Jesus say what we want him to say according to our prior epistemological commitments – which is the very definition of idolatry. We cannot read the gospels with dualism underlying our belief system. For it is that very dualism which Christ subverts with both his words and his actions.
.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book by Richard Rohr. I find little to quibble with. On the contrary, I was challenged, informed and inspired at every turn. I’m especially enamored with his thinking about contemplation as the only way (except for great pain and suffering, or love which he says assumes pain and suffering), to the truly transformed life. What we offer to God, essentially, is a vacuum. He clearly follows the wisdom of John of the Cross and Teresa Avila in this book. I think this book is essential for those who are entering the second half of life or those in their thirties who are mature. However, I would be very careful about who I recommended this book to. Rohr is not averse to including the wisdom of Jewish, Buddhist, and Islamic spiritualists. He simply assumes that all wisdom is from the one true God and thus any truths which people of other faith’s have stumbled onto comes from the one true God. I find this refreshing and effective, especially since he does so as an unapologetic Christ follower, but many of you may find it off-putting. But if you are looking for someone to learn from who is working in the arena of Christian Mysticism, Rohr is one of the best teachers of Christian contemplation I’ve encountered.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

December 21, 2009

The Great Emergence Book Review

Next Post

December 31, 2009 Adam's Return Book Review

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion corruption Donald Trump elections Empire Entertainment Ezra Klein ideology Justice Lacan politics race Sports Ta-Nehisi Coates Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 March 2026 September 2025 March 2025 June 2024 January 2024 December 2023 May 2023 February 2023 October 2022 April 2022 March 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 September 2020 July 2020 June 2020 March 2020 September 2019 July 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

To whom did God give the commandments, engraved on stone tablets?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Noah Adam Moses Peter