I was thrilled and grateful to receive a digital ARC copy of Richard Rohr's new book, The Tears of Things, thanks to NetGalley. As is apt to be with Rohr's titles, this one feels particularly timely - given the state of our world in 2025. The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom For an Age of Outrage is an interesting read, and applicable to the urgency of today through, surprisingly, the words of the Biblical prophets. Rohr makes the bold assertion at the beginning of the book: "I'm convinced that unless we know the lineage, the exact genre, and the unique approach of the Hebrew prophets, we really can't understand Jesus." For me, the introduction felt a bit dense and not as smooth of a reading journey as most of Rohr's writing, but I think his premise is worth it. The following chapters address multiple prophets, including Amos, Jeremiah, Elijah, Jonah, and Ezekiel, among others; as well as the subjects and teachings surrounding them. It makes a very dense and sometimes unreadable (for me) group of Old Testament figures, more relevant and less distance to me and my spirituality. I also appreciate Rohr's footnote in the introduction, acknowledging that there are no written records of women prophets in the Old Testament. He further explains that in the OT "at least, they only act. Maybe that is part of their message." He also hopes other writers can illuminate women prophets in the future.

Though I read this book on my own for review, I think it is a book best suited for a group read - I look forward to digging through this text with my fellow spiritual formation community. Don't let the Old Testament Biblical subject matter scare you away, if you find yourself deconstructing or reconstructing your faith - Rohr is at his best here, taking words full of difficulty and makes me not only accessible, but applicable to our 2025 world. Sprinkled in of course, with Rohr's knowledge and prophetical interpretation, are classic and helpful Rohr thoughts on spirituality, faith and contemplation, written as only Rohr can.
A few favorite quotes include:
"...All transformative religions, are, each in their own way, trying to defeat the imperial ego and reveal the always camouflaged shadow self. Yet we need to be bathed in the assurance of infinite love before we can wish such ego deflation..."

"...We can learn to love others by closely observing how God loves us and all of creation. Often this will mean observing and imitating nature's universal song of praise, just as Saint Francis, Hildegard of Bingen, William Wordsworth, John Muir and Mary Oliver all did..."

I heartily recommend this read by Richard Rohr - my hope is it will be a balm and an encouragement to us all in this moment.

I adore a thematic reading experience and often deliberately pick something to read during Holy Week. This year it was Father Richard Rohr's latest, The Tears of Things. I was already emailing with Convergent Books so asked if they could get me an eARC. Which they did. But I got about five pages in and went ahead and bought my own copy. Because this is a book I want to spend time with in the future. So yes, I do have a gifted eARC but I actually ended up listening to the audio which I bought myself.

I recently finished a book by John O'Donohue and am struck by the similarities between these two men. Of course there is the Catholic priest thing, but it is more than that. Both have a rich, deep vein of scholarly knowledge, an academic foundation, which feeds rather than contradicts the overflowing spirituality which makes them beloved by so many. They share an abundant, generous spirit. The reader feels like a treasured companion, not a nameless consumer. While neither is infallible, when I come across something which doesn't sit quite right, I tend to assume I don't have the experience or maturity (yet) to comprehend the point being made. I am immensely grateful that I stumbled across their teachings.

The Tears of Things is a book about prophets, particularly Biblical prophets, a topic I am invested in. I find the Bible to be absolutely fascinating, particularly the way the books are in conversation with each other. There are timeless truths hidden in plain sight, often disguised by familiarity. We think we know the Bible but don't actually read it. Perhaps the most shocking thing I discovered in seminary was how many people had never actually read the book cover to cover. If I was going to trust eternity to a book, you know I would read that thing over and over. And yet here were people, some already pastoring churches, who had never read huge portions of the text. I am thrilled Father Rohr is introducing these ancient truth tellers to today's truth seekers. I think this book is probably best read in community, taking the time to read the Bible passages, ponder the messages, and engage in a lively discussion. We have been wrestling with these words for thousands of years, it is time to join the conversation.

Every book I have read by Richard Rohr has touched my soul, and this book is needed more than ever. Some have suggested that Rohr is styling himself as a prophet for this day and age, I didn't read this book that way. I saw Rohr calling the "Christian" community back again to the messages of the prophets (Hebrew Bible and Jesus) and calling on us (you and me) to stand up for that message in a prophetic way. We need this message today more than ever.

For those who think this is a bashing of the right, he calls out the left as well in his recitation of the message of the prophets. In many ways this book flows from his last book "The Universal Christ", which brought an important message to light. I was introduced to Rohr by a colleague of mine almost ten years ago; what I have learned to appreciate about him is he makes me uncomfortable in my "Christianity" and is always inviting me to a deeper understanding.

I will be honest and say, this is not an easy read --- most of his books aren't they are not written as pop Christianity to reach the masses, instead, I believe he is writing to those who are willing to dig deep within and search their very hearts and souls for what they believe about the Christ. I highly recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Convergent Books (Random House) for an ARC for my honest opinion.

Another great book by Richard Rohr where he unpacks the prophets. He brings each prophet to life and encourages us to walk in their footsteps, teaching us, through their experiences, how to live compassionate lives in an unjust word. I found this book more accessible than others of his I have read, and it feels particularly relevant given the place the world is in today.

The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage by Richard Rohr is about the writing of the Jewish prophets and how they warn and give hope even today. Rohr is always such a delight to read, as his spirituality comes through his writing. I highlighted so many sections in this book because they were so thought-provoking to me. "Please remember that certainty--not doubt--is the opposite of faith. The insistence on certainty reveals a need for control, not a need for love or understanding." Also, "every viewpoint is a view from a point, and we had best know our own. Where you start largely determines the questions you ask (or don't ask), the trajectory you set, and the goals you hope to achieve. Truth does not appear like an apparition of low-hanging fruit in a celestial garden. It always comes wrapped in the society and historical moment that produced it." Highly recommend this and any of Rohr's books. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

The Tears of Things by Richard Rohr is a book anyone longing to hear a word of hope from a prophet should read. This might be the most important book on the prophets since Heschel. In the introduction, Rohr describes a prophet as “an officially licensed critic, a devil’s advocate who names and exposes their own group’s shadow side!” (xiv). He goes on to say, “Prophets, then, are full truth-tellers, not fortune-tellers” (xix). The rest of the book invites us to experience the tears our souls—and our world—need. Because, as “the prophets knew, the soul must weep to be a soul at all” (6).

The first several chapters felt dense, full of insight and wisdom, but challenging at times to let penetrate deeply. But with each chapter, the messages of the biblical prophets became increasingly clear and relevant. Chapter 7 is the turning point where Rohr connects the tears he has been talking about to our lived experience, and from that point on the book is compelling, inspirational, a true page-turner.

If you want to learn more about the prophets, historically and in terms of contemporary relevance, read this book. Rohr makes each prophet come to life, helps us hear their messages, and encourages us to follow their example. At the same time, he reminds us, “God must be very humble; if not, he could not act through such fallible humans as all of us” (83). He also provides a framework for reading the prophetic books of the Bible, which I look forward to trying.

And if you are longing for prophetic voices right now, are losing hope, or feel like we must be living through end times, or at least exile, please, please read this book. You will be encouraged, comforted, and reminded that sometimes tears are exactly what we need. And you just might laugh, too, because Richard Rohr can be downright hilarious.

Never one to be disappointed by anything he writes, Richard Rohr brings, yet again, a poignant read on where we currently find ourselves. He asks the tough questions, points out the less than ideal. But always brings it back to scripture and the teachings of Christ in the midst of it all.

Using the power of the prophets, he directs us to follow the path the Bible has laid out for us, only that we should take it. Written in a way that's both deeply theological and accessible, Rohr provokes deep thoughts that should be followed with action.

I will definitely be revisiting this one in the future.

**Thank you NetGalley and Convergent Books for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.**

I've read and enjoyed a number of Richard Rohr's books, but this may be one of his best. Rohr examines the writings of Biblical prophets (there are more than thirty in the Old Testament, including seven women), with a focus on Amos, Jeremiah, Elijah, Isaiah, Jonah, and John the Baptist. His reading of the prophets identifies a common pattern that runs through their messages: they begin in anger, are then moved to tears and sadness, but end in finding their way to compassion and praise. It’s a progression that is timely in today's current climate of blame and division.

Rohr identifies the Jewish prophets as those who reformed from within, calling the people to return to God and justice. The prophets proclaimed that the status quo was not working, and the result was often a time of “holy disorder.” Rohr’s study reveals the discomfort and disorder that the truth-telling of the prophets often provoked; he notes, "Prophets seldom preach peace and prosperity... Why? Because things are always falling apart and the prophet's job is to illustrate that catastrophes eventually have to happen and we must allow them to happen."

Rohr argues that we are humbled by the experience of holy disorder, and it is through grief and sadness that we are most likely to experience grace and understand the limitlessness of God’s love and forgiveness – the love and forgiveness that we are called to show to others.

In one of the central messages of the book, Rohr writes, "Life is inherently sad, the prophets want us to know. Humanity is foundationally unfaithful to love and truth, they seem to shout.... We have to admit we are prone to the same failings we see in others -- and prone to deny them as well.”

The book calls its readers to a transformation that will allow us to “fully eat, absorb, and digest” our organizing anger and disorganizing sadness so that we can reorganize these responses into genuine praise, gratitude, and love.

Rohr’s book manages to do what so many Christian books try to do - inspire us toward a deeper spirituality while convicting us of that which holds us back. His vision of spiritual maturity as a transformative process has the potential to effect meaningful change without being yet another call to simply buckle down and get more disciplined about the rituals of faith.

This deceptively short, readable book takes us through the great Prophets of the Jewish tradition, tracing their transformation from anger at the sins of the world to grief over the suffering which is both the cause and result of that sin, and finally, to the “great Nevertheless” - the understanding that God’s love and grace are present in and endlessly redeeming that sin, anger, suffering, and sadness.

A perfect book for Lent, Rohr presents an astonishingly achievable vision for anyone seeking a more mature spiritual life. He never loses sight of the greatness of the prophets and their message, while making it completely accessible to anyone willing to receive it. The central discipline the book calls readers to is a recognition of God’s unconditional and ever-present love through the transformative experience of lamentation and grateful contemplation of the natural world.

He does not shy away from contemporary issues that would certainly provoke righteous anger in contemporary prophets - climate change, wealth inequality, gun violence - while also calling out partisanship and ego-driven attempts to neatly divide the world into good vs bad. Rohr welcomes readers into a greater reality of God’s loving presence, made visible through the natural world and the expansive vision of the prophets.

i received an ARC of this book through Net Galley.
The Tears of Things by Richard Rohr is a book in which I believe has been begging to be written., nd I cannot think of anyone who could address our current world better than Father Rohr. His unique insight and perspective on our world and how the bibkical prophets not only call the nations of ancient Israel and Judah to return to the loving arms of their God but also how their teachings and exhortations apply to us today.
I have had many convesations over the last few years regarding, in my opinion, the need for a re-examination of the Prophets (and I am as Father Rohr does, include Jesus in the ranks of the Prophets as well) in order to apply their teachings to our world and our lives today.. There is much we can learn from them. So many avoid reading the prophetic writings for various reasons and i understand their thinking. However this book will assist everyone who have never read from the Prophets and further more how their teachings apply to our world in this day and age.
As.I was reading the thought crossed my mind how this book shoukd stand along side the writings on the Prophets of both Abraham Heschel and Walter Brueggemann. I was to learn, much to my surprise, that Father Rohr give credit to both and their writings for assisting in formulating his thoughts on the Prophets.
This is an important book, one that needed to be written and one that should be read.

Father Rohr uses this short book to show how the wisdom of the biblical prophets speaks volumes about what is so wrong and so right about our society today and brings hope to the current landscape of the world.

Thanks to Convergent Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this great book.

Even as I was reading it, I was already planning my re-read. Richard Rohr is such an extraordinary and necessary voice in Christianity today.

Rohr brings accessibility and clarity to some of the most difficult parts of the Old Testament, demonstrating the presence of eternal truths and elemental patterns in these ancient texts. It is truly a privilege to have my own chaotic thoughts about religion, God, and reality shaped by the wisdom of Richard Rohr.

Richard Rohr’s latest book THE TEARS OF THINGS: PROPHETIC WISDOM FOR AN AGE OF OUTRAGE is pure joy to read. A distillation of his wisdom and a call for each person to reread the Old Testament prophets with a new heart and mind. Rohr’s writing is pastoral. He is quite sure of his message. Accordingly, the prophets begin in righteous anger, mature through the crucible of Vergil’s famous line, lacrimae rerum, developing wider insight along the way, and “evolve into non-dualistic and compassionate truth-tellers.” Rohr suggests the way out of our current world mess is for us all to emulate the way of the prophets. So much more in this rich work. I will keep it handy for when the urge to judge and condemn comes upon me.
With thanks to NetGalley and Convergent Publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Richard Rohr never fails to disappoint. This is recommended for reflective Christians and progressive Catholics. Rohr has a special talent of bringing theolog and scripture to life by contrasting and comparing it with modern life.

Richard Rohr often offers insightful perspectives that challenge me, and The Tears of Things is certainly no exception. The book is an examination of the Old Testament prophets and invitation to wisely respond to injustices and tragedy within our own day. Yes, the prophets often began angry, even vindictive, but then they moved into mourning and grief and ultimately compassion. The same can be true of is, and this is undoubtedly a timely invitation/examination in a time of rampant outrage.

I felt this book was an expansion on some thoughts in his book Jesus' Plan for the New World (published in 1996), particularly where he said, "'The weeping mode' allows one to carry the dark side of things, the 'tears of things' as the Latin poet said, to bear the pain of the world without needing to define perpetrators or victims, but instead recognizing the tragic reality that both sides are usually caught up in. I must hold these contradictions, I need to suffer them, I let them transform me. The weeping mode of life is quite different than the succeeding mode, the controlling mode, the fixing mode, the climbing mode, or even the explaining mode."

Here we are now, nearly 30 years later, wrestling with the same thoughts on how to respond to the world's brokenness. To be fair, the prophets remind us we are here some thousands of years later wrestling with same brokenness. And, so, while this subtitled for "an age of outrage," I'm not certain we have known any other age. It, then, perhaps not only timely but perhaps timeless in this way.

I did find some of the writing difficult to follow at times. It won't necessarily be an easy read, by any means. But, it is a fascinating and challenging (personally and intellectually) read. I'm thankful to NetGalley and Convergent Books for the advanced readers' copy in exchange for my honest review.

I alway enjoy Richard Rohr's writing. He teaches me new things, helps me see Scripture in a new light and I feel inspired when I finish his books. This book did not disappoint. He works through the prophets in the Bible and how their wisdom is still needed in our current times. He shows how they often start out vindictive, then mourn and then rejoice following the pattern of order, disorder, reorder. I have seen this pattern in my own life so it was interesting to see it in the prophets. Rohr shows how the prophets decenter ourselves and help us not make a god in our own image but a God of love who wants people to turn to Him.

"The Tears of Things" concerns the biblical prophets and how they challenged injustice. Rohr examines the way they responded that takes into consideration both history and our interconnectedness with each other. Richard Rohr is a great thinker, writer, and a voice of reason for our time. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Pub Date: March 4, 2025.

#TheTearsofThings

This thought-provoking guide to the prophetic stream of Judeo-Christian spirituality inspired me to start reading those difficult and often angry books, seeing them in a new light. The path from anger to tears to compassion, asserts Rohr, is the way of a true prophet as well as of the God of the Bible, and of all who read the Bible with love. Although there are parts I don't agree with, and I think Rohr's conversational style could use some more rigor and fact-checking, his overall message seems spot-on for where our culture finds itself at the moment. We need to embrace holy disorder so that a new order, more integrative, more whole, can arise ... knowing it will be overturned in time, but that it is a step in our spiritual maturing. A great book to read when so much anger is flying around, showing a way past and through that defensive emotion, letting tears do their healing work.

Man, do I love some good Christian philosophy. Even better if it's wrapped in the stories of the prophets and the patterns of speaking truth.

There were points at which I was fairly confused, thinking that the author was working his way toward a specific point only to pull back and make no point at all but simply to leave the reflection there for the reader to pick up. Perhaps my mind has been too jaded by the world; I used to relish in this sort of thing, but there was something in me that wanted to call it "unfinished." That said, I appreciate that it was left that way because we're living in a world that is so busy trying to tell you WHAT to think that most persons have forgotten HOW to think, and the role of the prophet is to be a thinking person - a reflective one. One who can see and understand and interpret and not simply mimic or repeat or accept.

I have studied the Bible, and the prophets, and Christian philosophy fairly extensively over the years, as matter of personal devotion and professional exercise and just general curiosity and a certain leaning toward the world, and yet, there were still things in this work that caused me to see something in a new light or to think in a new way. It had me reflecting on my own understandings and postures, as well as those of persons I allow to speak into my life in some way, shape, or form.

I am very appreciative of this book. It was by no means an easy read - fairly dense in many places - but such a worthwhile one.

Interesting perspective on the prophetic writings of Scripture and how that can impact the relationship between anger, compassion, and grief in uncertain times.

(I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)