The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage
Ebook
Overview
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
In his first major work since The Universal Christ, one of our most prominent spiritual voices offers a wholehearted and hope-filled model for living today, grounded in the timeless words of the Hebrew prophets.
How do we live compassionately in a time of violence and despair? What can we do with our private disappointments and the anger we feel over an unjust world? In his most personal book yet, Richard Rohr turns to the writings of the Jewish prophets, showing how some of the lesser-read books of the Bible offer us a path forward today.
The prophets’ writings echo the spectrum of human development. Beneath their initial fervor and their forceful words, there lies a profound lamentation about our shared human condition and the pain of the world. Yet, in their astute critiques of culture and institutions, and their movement from anger and lament to wholeness and hope, the prophets embody what Rohr calls holy disorder - a distinct approach to confronting malevolence and recognizing the wholeness of every living being.
Drawing on a century of Biblical scholarship and written in the warm, pastoral voice that has endeared millions to Rohr, The Tears of Things breathes new life into ancient wisdom and paves a path of enlightenment for anyone seeking a wholehearted way of living in a hurting world.
INTRODUCTION: GOOD TROUBLE xiii
CHAPTER 1
The Tears of Things 3
CHAPTER 2
Amos: Messenger to the Collective 17
CHAPTER 3
A Critical Mass: The Secret of the Remnant 29
CHAPTER 4
Welcoming Holy Disorder:
How the Prophets Carry Us Through 44
CHAPTER 5
Jeremiah: The Patterns That Carry Us Across 63
CHAPTER 6
Unfinished Prophets: Elijah, Jonah,
and John the Baptizer 81
CHAPTER 7
The Alchemy of Tears: How We Learn
Universal Sympathy and Grace 96
CHAPTER 8
The Three Isaiahs: The Heart of Prophecy 116
CHAPTER 9
Ezekiel: Redemption and the Grace of God 130
CHAPTER 10
It All Comes Down to Love 142
A GOOD SUMMARY 161
THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL 165
SEVEN THEMES OF AN ALTERNATIVE ORTHODOXY 167
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 169
NOTES 171
"Richard Rohr is one of the great Christian spiritual masters of our time. Of any time. He is the kind of thinker that not only changes minds and hearts, but changes lives."
"Richard Rohr brings to his study his long, discerning reflection, his immense pastoral sensibility, and his capacity for close reading. His book is a welcome entry point for us into an urgent biblical trajectory."
"In this luminous book, Richard Rohr synthesizes action and contemplation with greater passion and courage than ever before. By retelling the stories of the biblical prophets, he calls upon us all to speak truth in our own times and to speak it with love."
"In a world that can feel like a house on fire, Richard Rohr’s The Tears of Things is a much-needed road map to wisdom and higher - more hopeful - ground."
"Richard Rohr brings the voices of the biblical prophets to life, offering a timely and transformative message about the pain and beauty of our shared humanity. This book is a beacon of light for anyone seeking solace and understanding in uncertain times."
"Another shining gift from one of our greatest Christian teachers . . . Fr. Richard Rohr has been such an inspiration to so many of us."
"In these insightful and beautifully written reflections, Richard Rohr explores the teachings of the prophets, helping us discover how deeply God loves us in the midst of our hurtful and misguided ways."
"Fr Richard Rohr invites us into a relationship with sadness as the path to knowing how actively God works with us. If we stop being absorbed in our personal dramas, if we fearlessly open to the human condition, we discover the boundlessness of the human heart-compassion not only for people, but for how we continue to create our own suffering."
"Richard Rohr offers a path forward beyond dying religions and moribund civilizations, one that marries mysticism and prophecy. Reminding us that evil flourishes best when it is denied, he credits the prophets for having started the move from religion to spirituality that is beckoning us today. Rohr has saved his best book for the last."
"Fr Richard Rohr challenges us to search beneath the surface of our faith and see what is sacred in everyone and everything."
- Title: The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage
- Author: Richard Rohr
- Publisher: SPCK Publishing
- Print Publication Date: 2025
- Logos Release Date: 2025
- Pages: 208
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9780281090976, 9780281090952, 0281090955, 0281090971
- Resource ID: LLS:9780281090976
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-08-23T07:19:57Z
Richard Rohr is a globally recognized Franciscan friar and ecumenical teacher whose work bears witness to the deep wisdom of Christian mysticism. He is the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, an educational nonprofit that introduces spiritual seekers to the Christian contemplative path of transformation. He is the author of many books, including the New York Times bestseller The Universal Christ, Falling Upward, and Breathing Under Water. His work has been featured on Oprah’s SuperSoul Sunday, Krista Tippett’s On Being, and in The New Yorker and Harper’s Magazine.
