It’s time for our very first Journey Book Club discussion! Can you believe it?

The month of May sure seems to have flown by, which made Richard Rohr’s book an ideal selection for two reasons.

The first is that it encouraged me to practice presence each day. I loved what Rohr said at the end of the book’s preface—”When you can be present, you will know the Real Presence“—and that quote stayed with me as I read each page of the book. In fact, I feel like it offers a perfect summary of what Rohr teaches and how we can learn to “see as the Mystics see.”

The encouragement to remain present was especially significant this month as we rush to finish our basement renovation project so we can rent it out this summer. Many days this past month have been filled with painting, cleaning, assembling, and running errands, and there were many moments when I wished I was doing something else, including spending more time tending to you and this space. But it is only in the present moment that I can encounter God and experience the inner stillness and peace that I longed for, and God taught me that this month in a season where I was only expecting to learn how to assemble numerous pieces of Ikea furniture.

The second reason The Naked Now seemed like an appropriate selection was its structure. I was surprised at first by the short chapters and wasn’t sure if I liked it in the beginning. I loved what Rohr was saying in each chapter and often found myself wanting to go even further. But as the month continued, I learned to love this structure. Whether I had five minutes or fifteen (or on good days, even more), it was a gift to sit down with a cup of coffee and a chapter or two on a complete idea with a summary or takeaway at the end. I have a feeling I’ll return to many chapters on their own on days when I only have a few moments but want to be nourished and called away from dualistic thinking and into the present moment.

To reference every quote underlined and every note written in the margins would have you reading this post the rest of the hour, but some other themes that left an impression on me are the emphasis on wonder, the un-ending process of conversion, Rohr’s exploration on the ego and non-dualistic thinking, and the emphasis on paradox—particularly its role within the Christian tradition.

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