Our Mission
We are a center for experiential education, rooted in the Gospels, encouraging the transformation of human consciousness through contemplation, and equipping people to be instruments of peaceful change in the world.
July 29, 2011
Sunset by © Henry Hoffman
Loving the Two Halves of Life:
The Second Half
Lady Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), my favorite mystic, says it very well: “First, there is the fall, and then we recover from the fall. Both are the mercy of God!”
People in the twelve-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous are people who do not deny or disguise that they have fallen. They have learned to hand their very will to a Higher Power, whereas many good religious people never do that.
This is why I have said for years that the spirituality of AA is going to go down as the American contribution to the history of spirituality. (My forthcoming book on this subject, Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps, will be out in September 2011.) AA programs often create “mini-mystics,” who would never imagine that they are second-half-of-life people, and are convinced they are just beginners. That is where we should all be!
Adapted from Loving the Two Halves of Life: The Further Journey
(CD, DVD, MP3)
Starter Prayer:
"Our hearts are restless
until they rest in You."
(St. Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 AD)
If you are inspired by Fr. Richard's Daily Meditations,
please consider receiving both
Radical Grace, the publication of the CAC
and visiting the CAC Mustard Seed Resource Center!
