1st half of life prepares us for 2nd half

The first-half-of-life task is no more than finding the starting gate. It is merely the warm-up act, not the full journey. It is the raft but not the shore....The further journey usually appears like a seductive invitation to go, perhaps because each of us has to go on this path freely, with all the messy and raw material of our own unique lives.

As Desmond Tutu told me [Rohr] on a recent trip to Cape Town, "We are only light bulbs, Richard, and our job is just to remain screwed in!"

We need to unlearn a lot, it seems, to get back to that foundational life which is "hidden in God" (Colossians 3:3). Yes, transformation is often more about unlearning than learning, which is why the religious traditions call it "conversion" or "repentance."

"...the deepest meaning of "natural law" - We are here to give back fully and freely what was first given to us - but now writ personally - by us! It is probably the most courageous and free act we will ever perform - and it takes both halves of our life to do it fully. The first half of our life is discovering the script, and the second half is actually writing it at owning it."