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Simplicity: The Art of Living
The ancient call of Saint Francis to the simple life is sounded once again by America's foremost Franciscan, Richard Rohr, in "Simplicity: The Art of Living."
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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400 people want to read
About the author
Richard Rohr
247 books2,342 followersFr. Richard Rohr is a globally recognized ecumenical teacher bearing witness to the universal awakening within Christian mysticism and the Perennial Tradition. He is a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico Province and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fr. Richard's teaching is grounded in the Franciscan alternative orthodoxy—practices of contemplation and expressing itself in radical compassion, particularly for the socially marginalized.
Fr. Richard is author of numerous books, including Everything Belongs, Adam’s Return, The Naked Now, Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, Eager to Love, and The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (with Mike Morrell).
Fr. Richard is academic Dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation. Drawing upon Christianity's place within the Perennial Tradition, the mission of the Living School is to produce compassionate and powerfully learned individuals who will work for positive change in the world based on awareness of our common union with God and all beings. Visit cac.org for more information.
Fr. Richard is author of numerous books, including Everything Belongs, Adam’s Return, The Naked Now, Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, Immortal Diamond, Eager to Love, and The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (with Mike Morrell).
Fr. Richard is academic Dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation. Drawing upon Christianity's place within the Perennial Tradition, the mission of the Living School is to produce compassionate and powerfully learned individuals who will work for positive change in the world based on awareness of our common union with God and all beings. Visit cac.org for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 9, 2018
This is easily the most profound and challenging book I have read in years. A collection of talks/sermons Rohr gave around Germany in 1990 (fascinating context there...), this book is less about simplicity than it is a collection of thoughts about faith, freedom, action and contemplation, and what it really means to be a Christian. The clarity and straightforwardness of Rohr's perspectives were radically challenging and remarkably contemporary. I'll be thinking about this book for a while.
For me, this was the right book at the right time, but it's also one of those books that has something for everyone - even if you just read one essay.
For me, this was the right book at the right time, but it's also one of those books that has something for everyone - even if you just read one essay.
January 28, 2019
4.5 stars. I really loved this book. My first one of Rohr’s and won’t be my last. He calls out a lot of what is just seen as normal Christianity but is actually Western Christianity and challenges the status quo. Love his emphasis on contemplation leading to action, on living a simple life that lets go of the need for success, need to feel righteous, and the need for control. The chapters on a feminine God and patriarchy in the church were especially refreshing to read coming from a white Franciscan priest, as were some of his theological motivations for social and political action.
The explanation of the parable of the ten minas in Luke 19 near the end of the book blew my mind and made me wonder what other explanations of Bible stories I’ve simply accepted one viewpoint as fact. Going to buy for my own personal library so I can mark and reread it.
The explanation of the parable of the ten minas in Luke 19 near the end of the book blew my mind and made me wonder what other explanations of Bible stories I’ve simply accepted one viewpoint as fact. Going to buy for my own personal library so I can mark and reread it.
January 7, 2015
No one puts the smack down quite like a Franciscan monk...
"How is it that after two thousand years of meditation on Jesus Christ we've managed so effectively to avoid everything that he taught so unequivocally? This is true of all the churches. All of us, for example, have evaded the Sermon on the Mount. All of us have evaded the unmistakable teaching on poverty. All of us have evaded Jesus' clear directive on non-violence. All of us have evaded his straightforward doctrine of loving your enemies. Jesus is too much for us."
Rohr has some hard words for churches and Christians, but he's deeply committed to both and has a way of encouraging and challenging us into deeper, more faithful living. This book is a series of transcribed lectures that he gave in Germany decades ago, holding together (very loosely) under the topic of simplicity. He touches on everything from socialism to spiritual disciplines to greed to the myth of the "messianic promise" that modernism held out for in human reason.
I particularly enjoyed his thoughts on God as feminine, which I usually don't hear from established, white, male clergy...
"In patriarchal Europe we prefer to see God as a man. And yet it says right there in Genesis: 'God created humankind in God's own image; male and female God created them' (Gen. 1:27). That says point blank that God cannot be masculine.... Like many other people I've continually wondered why Jesus came to us as a man and why he chose twelve men... I think that if Jesus had come as a woman, and had this woman been forgiving and compassionate, and had she taught non-violence, we wouldn't have experienced that as revelation. 'Oh well, typical woman,' we would have said. But the fact that a man in a patriarchal society took on these qualities that we call 'feminine' was a breakthrough in revelation. So he spent three years teaching twelve men how to do things differently- and they almost never caught on. And for two thousand years the men in the Church have never caught on. Because we wanted a God of domination."
"How is it that after two thousand years of meditation on Jesus Christ we've managed so effectively to avoid everything that he taught so unequivocally? This is true of all the churches. All of us, for example, have evaded the Sermon on the Mount. All of us have evaded the unmistakable teaching on poverty. All of us have evaded Jesus' clear directive on non-violence. All of us have evaded his straightforward doctrine of loving your enemies. Jesus is too much for us."
Rohr has some hard words for churches and Christians, but he's deeply committed to both and has a way of encouraging and challenging us into deeper, more faithful living. This book is a series of transcribed lectures that he gave in Germany decades ago, holding together (very loosely) under the topic of simplicity. He touches on everything from socialism to spiritual disciplines to greed to the myth of the "messianic promise" that modernism held out for in human reason.
I particularly enjoyed his thoughts on God as feminine, which I usually don't hear from established, white, male clergy...
"In patriarchal Europe we prefer to see God as a man. And yet it says right there in Genesis: 'God created humankind in God's own image; male and female God created them' (Gen. 1:27). That says point blank that God cannot be masculine.... Like many other people I've continually wondered why Jesus came to us as a man and why he chose twelve men... I think that if Jesus had come as a woman, and had this woman been forgiving and compassionate, and had she taught non-violence, we wouldn't have experienced that as revelation. 'Oh well, typical woman,' we would have said. But the fact that a man in a patriarchal society took on these qualities that we call 'feminine' was a breakthrough in revelation. So he spent three years teaching twelve men how to do things differently- and they almost never caught on. And for two thousand years the men in the Church have never caught on. Because we wanted a God of domination."
April 21, 2020
My first read of Richard Rohr after many many recommendations and I gotta say I don’t know quite what I expected from a Franciscan monk but I definitely was not prepared for a scathing but theological indictment of American capitalism. Rohr is eloquent and blunt in equal measure and was a solid thirty years ahead of the curve in predicting the structural change American churches would need to stay both viable and biblical in their practices. A very good read.
May 10, 2025
Holy smokes. This book was written 35 years ago (from the the time I read it), and he was ahead of his time. A white man poking at a system he benefits from -- and he wasn't put up to it. We spend so much of our energy, even as Christians, seeking comfort and security and even power, and that's very much not the Jesus we see in the Gospels. Excellent book.
January 2, 2020
A deep book that well, . . . just blew my mind! Rohr is riveting in his approach. He deconstructs everything religious and leaves you with something real, wanting for more of Jesus and God's heart. I can't recommend him highly enough!
April 24, 2019
A challenging read, useful to me only if I implement these ideas, embracing an attitude of action and contemplation.
January 15, 2024
This is an early predecessor to his more influential writing. IMHO, Rohr is a prophet for our times. I read every book and meditation he puts out there. This book is no exception!
August 27, 2025
This book consists of a series of talks given in the early 90's but so incredibly relevent to our times and quite a help in simplifying goals for a good life through the teaching of Jesus Christ.
July 4, 2013
Richard Rohr's writings remind me of what I know about Buddhism: becoming empty is the highest fulfillment. But Rohr is a Catholic priest, a Franciscan to be exact. This book is a collection of talks he made in Germany in 1990, with question and answer sessions included. It is a bit repetitive at times, but it really makes you think. Rohr says that to find our souls and experience the true Gospel, we have to give up three things: our need to be successful, our need to be righteous/religious, and our need to have power and get everything under control. Pretty radical, huh?
February 29, 2008
If you want to understand the true Gospel message of forgiveness and humility, as taught by St. Francis himself, read this amazing book! Richard Rohr has spelled it out for us in this book.
Simplicity: The Art of Living. Can you find a better, more definitive title for a book?
By the way, his other book called Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go accomplishes the same goal as this book.
Simplicity: The Art of Living. Can you find a better, more definitive title for a book?
By the way, his other book called Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go accomplishes the same goal as this book.
March 11, 2015
This book had some challenging things for me to think about. I don't agree with all of the authors interpretations or conclusions, but he does make some very good points about Christians and our relationship with poverty and justice issues. I think it an be good to read things from a different perspective. It challenges me to think through what I believe.
November 8, 2016
Simplicity is the title. I read the whole book, and I don't know how they came up with that title to stick on this collection of lectures that Rohr gave in the early 1990s. I know he's still writing and speaking. I wonder if his thinking has evolved over the last 25 years.
November 13, 2008
I loved this book!! It helped me to examine my own life and recognize all of the "clutter" which I can get rid of!
October 26, 2011
Awesome way of viewing life.
April 17, 2013
Kept attention, well-written, accessible, must read and important...all 5 stars. Thoughtful words to absorb and live into.
February 7, 2016
An amazing book. It was too rich to read through. One chapter a night was a full feast for my tired soul.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews