As I finished up Richard Rohr’s The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See, I was laying on the sofa with a raw throat, feeling feverish. I was surrounded by feverish, coughing kids laying next to me, on me, and across from me. And I knew I was in heaven.

The struggle to forgive reality for being exactly what is is right now often breaks us through to nondual consciousness.  -Richard Rohr

That is the spirit of Rohr’s book: Recognizing the Kingdom of God is right now. He introduces Jesus from a perspective I first encountered in Breathing Underwater, and builds from there, using primarily scripture, but also the words of the mystics such as St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Ávila, and his own ideas.

His object isn’t to convert his reader, just to encourage another way of thinking about the world, so even if you don’t consider yourself religious, this book is a safe place to explore ideas about God without having to feel like you’re being backed into a corner. Yet the book doesn’t shy away from big ideas.

The chapters are short and readable. Each ends with a summary in bold that crystallizes the thoughts from the chapter. Footnotes throughout the book refer to a Notes section in the back with both Rohr’s comments and the works from which he draws his ideas. In addition, he includes an appendices with a number of resources to help the reader practice the Naked Now.

Rohr tackles the Western tendency toward polarity thinking/Greek logic on everything, including our faith. Children instinctively understand that life is a series of paradoxes. They can be full, and still have room for dessert. Grown ups tend to have to re-learn this way of thinking, which Rohr refers to as nondual thinking. The Naked Now is a scripture-based primer on how to begin the journey.Over and over, I was texting quotes to the Chaplain, reading passages to him, or talking to him about ideas I was reading about. I was captivated by the ideas in chapter after chapter. I saw myself in the section about Mary and Martha. Again in the chapter titled “Change Your Mind.”

But did anyone ever tell you that Jesus’ very first message in the Gospels, which is usually translated as “convert,” “repent,” or “reform” (Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15) is the Greek word metanoia, which quite literally means to “change your mind”? – Richard Rohr

The ideas are so deep and thought-provoking that the short chapters are perfect for taking a bite, and then chewing on it for a while. As I read, I was questioning the way I teach my kids about God, specifically the way we pray before bed each night. I started to wonder if we could introduce some contemplation into that time rather than just repeating the same laundry list to God every night, a rarely changing litany about the day and hope for good dreams that night.

In that vein, I’ve tried a couple of different approaches. The first time, I had the kids silently think about two things they were grateful for from the day, and closed our quiet moment with a “For these things, we are grateful. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” Then, the kids launched into their regular prayers before I could slip out.

The next night, I asked them to take themselves in their mind back to something we’d all done together that day, to whatever aspect of that activity had been the best for them. I encouraged them to feel gratitude to God for that moment, and then closed us in a brief prayer. Then they launched into their regular, identical nightly prayers.I’m trusting the Spirit will continue to lead me toward new ways of introducing these ideas to my kids. Because if we really believe “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:7-8), how can we reflect that in the ways we demonstrate prayer for our kids?

At one point, I roped my kids into listening to me read a passage aloud. When I finished, Three told me, “Mom, why are you reading this to us? We can’t understand it.” And I thought to myself, I’m going to keep trying. They’ll get it eventually.

Although we use the phrase “peace of mind,” there is really no such thing. When you are in your mind, you are never truly at peace, and when you are truly at peace, you are never in your mind. Don’t believe or disbelieve that statement either, just honestly observe yourself. Then you will know – but it will be an altogether new kind of knowing. – Richard Rohr

I had to caution myself from reading it for anyone else and just looking at the ideas for what they could teach me. That’s because I’m not at the highest of the levels of development described in the Appendix, and my ego is still clutching for power.If you are curious about other ways to view your faith, something that will add layers of understanding, this is an excellent book. If you are curious about spirituality and how it fits into your life, Rohr’s work will definitely give you some food for thought. If you feel like God is offering something good but you haven’t really experienced it for yourself yet, and you want to know more, this is a great book. It’s on the short list of books I would probably recommend universally (also on that list? A book on death, books on the brain, and Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly).

The photos in this post are from our trip to Tobago, taken at Arnos Vale Beach.