We grow more spiritually by doing it wrong than by doing it right In Falling Upward, Fr Richard Rohr offers a new understanding of one of life’s most profound mysteries: how our failing can be the foundation for our ongoing spiritual growth. Drawing on the wisdom from time-honoured myths, heroic poems, great thinkers and scared religious texts, the author explores the two halves of life to show that those who have fallen, failed, or ‘gone down’ are the only ones who understand ‘up’. The heartbreaks, disappointments and first loves of life are actually stepping stones to the spiritual joys that the second half has in store for us. ‘I thank God for Richard Rohr’s sage-like presence in our culture: I honestly don’t know where I’d be without it.’ Brian Draper ‘Richard Rohr at his vintage best: prophetic, pastoral, practical.’ Cynthia Bourgeault ‘A voyage into the mystery and beauty of healthy spiritual maturity.’ Mehmet Oz, MD, host of the Dr Oz Show

AARP Digital Editions offer you practical tips, proven solutions, and expert guidance.

From the time Dana Liesegang could walk, she was out looking for adventure, and she never stopped. As a fearless child in the Pacific Northwest, she climbed trees, caught frogs, and held her own with any boy in town. She brought that true-grit, fire-in-her-belly attitude to the Navy . . . and to her recovery from the unthinkable. At the age of 19, she was sexually assaulted by a fellow sailor and thrown off a cliff, left for dead. She survived—but woke up in a hospital hours later paralyzed from the neck down, with doctors giving no hope for recovery.They underestimated the spirit and stubbornness of their patient.In Falling Up: My Wild Ride from Victim to Kick-Ass Victory, Dana recounts her agonizing and sometimes comical struggle from total dependence to doing the "impossible": walking again. With equal parts humor and rawness, she brings us along on her wild ride, as she navigates her new world, hurtles through rocky relationships, deals with family secrets, and returns to her love of sports and the outdoors. In the process, she learns the importance of forgiveness, discovers the awe-inspiring power of belief and perseverance, and transforms herself from silent victim to outspoken advocate and inspiration for people everywhere.After all, sometimes an unexpected fall can lead a person to reach for magnificent heights.

The first and only full-length biography (authorized or otherwise) of America's most prolific and awarded native-born composer of opera- Carlisle Floyd.

This brash and rollicking autobiography is a potent primer of the rough-and-tumble world of political consulting by one of its founding fathers and preeminent experts. A cross between a patriotic redneck raconteur and a TV-savvy renaissance man, Raymond D. Strother is unafraid to name names and refuses to mince words in tales of what he calls "the beauty and gore" of American politics. From the crash course in Louisiana politics and corruption he received following graduate school to his compelling entry into the big-time senatorial and congressional races of the 1970s and early 1980s and his adventures with candidates Clinton, Gore, and Hart and famous consultants Dick Morris and James Carville, Strother offers a wildly entertaining, controversial, but finally optimistic political and media success story that will thrill and inspire anyone spellbound by American politics.

‘The water I give will be a spring within you – welling up into infinite life.’ John 4.14 In these daily reflections, Richard Rohr invites us to rediscover the spring hidden inside each one of us. He reminds us of God’s indwelling presence and that we are inherently beloved. Remembering who we truly are is a gradual, lifelong journey: Fr Richard offers insights to ease the process and lead us back to our Source. Although each life moves at its own pace and in different ways, our growth does follow a common sequence – from innocence, through inevitable brokenness, to putting ourselves back together, and, ultimately, to ripening into union with self, God, the world and others. The author explores each stage, drawing from Scripture, Christian mystics, non-dual teachers from various faiths, and wisdom from other fields such as psychology, science, the Enneagram and the Twelve Steps. He is not teaching new concepts so much as framing them in a way that resonates with our intuitive wisdom, the truth that our souls already know. Each week concludes with a unique invitation to contemplative practice. Throughout the book, Fr Richard also calls us to compassionate action: the spiritual journey is not merely for our own transformation, but for the healing of the world.

No book could be more direct on the benefits of problems than this. It is straight forward on the main reason people suffer; the lack of right perspective.