The Divine Dance
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What People Are Saying About The Divine Dance…
Humanity, says Richard Rohr, is a perfect rhyme for what Christianity, trying to express the inexpressible, calls the holy trinity. This human dance we’re all in reflects a mysterious divine dance, one that we notice on our best days. Finding the sweet spot where contemporary science meets ancient mysticism, and theology meets poetry, The Divine Dance sketches a beautiful choreography for a life well-lived. In our joy or our pain, true life is always relational, a flow, a dance. (And was always meant to be.)
—Bono, U2
Seriously friends, this is Richard in peak form, doing what he does best: showing you how the best ideas for the future have actually been here, in the Jesus tradition, the whole time. In these pages it’s the Trinity—that old familiar word—that suddenly gets infused with insight and electricity as you see just how practical and helpful and healing and inspiring and provocative and dangerous this conception of the Divine is. Our favorite Franciscan has done it again!
—Rob Bell
Speaker, teacher, and author, Love Wins
RobBell.com
More and more people are struggling with conventional understandings of God, like the big white guy on a throne with a long beard and a fistful of swords and lightning bolts by which you (or your enemies) might be smitten at any moment if you don’t think or act correctly. For many, the concept of Trinity simply triples their God-problems. But in The Divine Dance, Richard Rohr and Mike Morrell explore the Trinity as a pathway beyond problematic understandings of God. This beautifully-written book can do far more than change your troubled thoughts about God: it can change your way of thinking about God entirely.
—Brian D. McLaren
Activist, speaker, and author, We Make the Road by Walking
brianmclaren.net
Rohr and Morrell have given us a liberating and yet totally orthodox invitation into the life of God. This book is a celebration of the Trinity, not as bad math (1+1+1=3), and not as baffling mystery to avoid, but as the divine movement of love. I’m grateful for a book that speaks God not with pretense and jargon, but with wisdom and genuine human experience. The Divine Dance is an example of why Rohr has had such a profound influence on so many Christians seeking to balance reason and mystery, action and contemplation, not to mention faith and real life.
—Nadia Bolz-Weber
Pastor, House for All Sinners and Saints
Author, Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People
NadiaBolzWeber.com
The Divine Dance reminds us that God is a holy community—Father, Son, Spirit. And that humanity is created in the image of community, with a deep longing to love and be loved. This book calls us to be like God—to belong to each other, to be one as God is one, and to refuse to do life alone.
—Shane Claiborne
Activist and author, Jesus for President
RedLetterChristians.org
It’s ironic that, while we have many religious institutions named after the Trinity, we are increasingly plagued by feelings of isolation and loneliness because we fail to truly experience this mysterious Three-In-One. With wisdom, compassion, and deep theological insight, Rohr and Morrell help readers begin to hear the music, understand the invitation, and feel the joy that leads our souls to enter into the Divine Dance.
—Sarah Thebarge
Author, The Invisible Girls
SarahThebarge.com
Richard Rohr is one of the great spiritual masters of our time, indeed of any time. His superb new book on the Trinity is vintage Rohr: clearheaded, provocative, inspiring, challenging, and, most of all, suffused with the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Trinity will of course always remain a profound mystery, but after reading Father Rohr’s book, you will experience it as a mystery that can, and will, transform your life.
—James Martin, SJ
Author, Jesus: A Pilgrimage and Seven Last Words
The Divine Dance is a joyful plunge into what is often dry academic mystery. Richard Rohr shares his exploration into the sacred and challenges us all to come along on the nourishing journey to community.
—Simone Campbell, SSS
NETWORK Executive Director, lawyer, advocate, poet,
and author, A Nun on the Bus
NetworkLobby.org
This is Christianity, awake. In The Divine Dance, Fr. Rohr and Mike Morrell inspire the mind and open the heart by exploring how a more robust Trinitarian theology can enliven faith in a way that’s rooted not only in Christian tradition, but in wisdom, experience, and love.
—Michael Gungor
Musician and author, The Crowd, the Critic, and the Muse
GungorMusic.com
Part devotional, part theological (re)introduction to the Holy Trinity, The Divine Dance sheds light on a few of the moves that will get your pew-weary muscles up and moving again. But be warned—it’s hard to dance without touching!
—Jennifer Knapp
Singer/songwriter and author, Facing the Music
JenniferKnapp.com
I would never call myself a mystic, or a contemplative. My life of faith runs at warp speed. The Creator inspires me to produce worship that is cacophonous and joyful; Jesus catapults me into battles for a more just society; and the Spirit tosses me into rigorous loving of neighbor and self. This lovely book caused me to slow down, to be present, to attend and be curious about the partners in the Divine Dance. I felt as though Father Rohr was sitting with me at tea, that Mike Morrell was with us, weaving language, painting an intimate portrait of God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit—the mystery of the Trinity. Each Person is more alive, now, circling in my heart—is it a waltz? A two-step? Even hip-hop? This book must be on your shelf: clergy, lay leaders, activists, and academics. For reflection and sustenance. To remember our “likeness” with Holy. To be invited to the dance.
—The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis
Senior Minister, Middle Collegiate Church (New York City)
Host, Just Faith (MSNBC.com); author, The Power of Stories
JacquiJLewis.com
The three are one? Well, yes. One dynamic reality, one joyful noise, one glorious flowing explosion of sacred suchness! A daring doctrine indeed. As a Jewish Hindu Buddhist Sufi, I finally get it. God is love and love is unendingly unfolding—permeating and transforming and connecting All That Is. The Divine Dance may well be Richard Rohr’s most important book.
—Mirabai Starr
Author, God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam
MirabaiStarr.com
The Divine Dance is not only Richard Rohr’s best book; it’s the best book on the Trinity I’ve ever read. Tender, human, both pastorally and psychologically brilliant, this is the work Rohr was born to do—the theological master grid that illumines a lifetime of teaching. While the depth and the scope of the book are enormous, The Divine Dance is most marked by its shimmering, revelatory clarity. The writing, like our three-in-one God, dances. For Rohr and Morrell, the Trinity is not just the revelation of God but the revelation of everything. I wept, I worshipped, I started all over again. An instant spiritual classic.
—Jonathan Martin
Author, How to Survive a Shipwreck
JonathanMartinWords.com
This book is essential to anyone who has ever suffered under the impression of an angry King God who sits on a throne and judges the wicked. The Divine Dance illuminates the beautiful implications of a God who is truly Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whose very being is formed by relationship—and in doing so reclaims the essential good of Christian belief.
; —Mike McHargue
Author, Finding God in the Waves
MikeMcHargue.com
The Divine Dance is a radical rediscovery of the Trinity for our generation, providing an expanded understanding of the divine flow of the Trinity and how it provides a framework for everything…our relationships, our sexuality, our self-worth, and our spirituality. It’s an enlightening read for all Christians who have struggled to understand the Trinity beyond an impersonal doctrine, and illuminates how the integration of the Trinity sets us all on a path to spiritual integration, vulnerability, and wholeness.
—Kristen Howerton
Writer
rageagainsttheminivan.com
The Divine Dance invites you into the heart of Christian mysticism: the lavish ever-expanding love of God. Richard Rohr and Mike Morrell show how the triune God is more than a philosophical concept—the Trinity is a joyous celebration of love and life, and we are all called to participate. This is not a book merely to be read or studied; it is meant to be lived.
—Carl McColman
Author, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism
CarlMcColman.net
One of the most misunderstood and underappreciated doctrines in the modern church is beginning to see a resurgence as humanity moves into a non-dualistic age of consciousness that is discovering the beauty and power of the mystery of our three-in-one, relational God. In The Divine Dance, Fr. Richard Rohr and Mike Morrell explore the depths of the Trinitarian mystery in a surprisingly accessible and refreshing manner, reflecting on how Christianity’s triune conception of God holds the keys to personal and societal transformation.
This book is a truly vital re-presentation of the fundamental truths that lie at the heart of the Christian gospel for a new age. Rohr and Morrell have written a soon-to-be classic that will re-enchant many with the beauty of the Christian tradition while causing us to expand and explore beyond the boundaries of rigid religiosity. This book is practical, profound, and inspiring, a must-read for every Christian in the twenty-first century.
—Brandan Robertson
Author, Nomad: A Spirituality for Travelling Light
BrandanRobertson.com
With the wisdom of C.S. Lewis and the accessibility of Rob Bell, Richard Rohr and Mike Morrell unpack our long-lingering questions about God, love, grace, and forgiveness, all through the lens of Trinitarian spirituality. This isn’t to say that this book answers every question. Like all good mystics, Rohr and Morrell circle our questions, reveling in the mystery of all that is. Join them. Stand with them “under the waterfall of God’s infinite mercy, and know that you are loved.”
—David James Poissant
L.A. Times Book Prize Finalist; author, The Heaven of Animals
davidjamespoissant.com
Many years ago I had a vision—somehow I just knew—of the Trinity, dancing. In this dance God’s persons were filled with great contagious joy. I remember wishing I could join them in that intimate, circular dance. You can imagine my great joy when Jesus took me by the hand and included me in it!
My dear friend Richard Rohr has once again given us a remarkable book on a subject that most Christians haven’t really thought about or prayed about, and yet we all agree is at the very heart of Christianity: this very Trinity. Richard’s heart is to reform Christianity from the bottom up by making clear the very shape of God, and in The Divine Dance he does just that. I am very privileged to endorse this marvelous book and to know that the wisdom contained within these pages will enable us all to join in the dance of life!
—Francis MacNutt
Healing minister and author, The Healing Reawakening
christianhealingmin.org
Though my heritage is in the charismatic movement, I’ve always had a spiritual curiosity that led me beyond the borders of my traditional upbringing. I believe that there is a faith available that far exceeds any fear of being deceived. If we are honest, all of us have questioned what we believed in the past in order to arrive at the beliefs we have in the present. The Divine Dance is the perfect catalyst for continued trailblazing.
I have a love affair with progressive thinkers like Richard Rohr and Mike Morrell who courageously challenge truths that have become static and have lost their relevance. Their generational collaboration with this work is critical for those of us evolving in our theological perspectives. Together, they demonstrate an intelligent humility, teaching the reader how to think instead of what to think.
Within these pages, I discovered that what I have known about the Trinity was not necessarily inaccurate, just incomplete. Dance is a perfect metaphor for engaging with mystery. Rohr and Morrell accepted the invitation of the Father, Son, and Spirit—an invitation that asks, “May I have this dance?” From the first chapter, I was taken by the hand and swept off my feet, gliding, dipping, and pirouetting into the deep insights of the Trinity. My heart is still dancing. This is, hands down, the very best theological treatise I have read in forty years.
—Dr. Randall Worley
Author, Brush Strokes of Grace
RandallWorley.com
I didn’t think I needed to understand the hypostatic unity of the Trinity; I just needed to turn my life over to whoever made the Grand Canyon. Reading The Divine Dance gives me the same feeling—I want to get up and move!
—Kevin Prosch
Singer, songwriter, and recording artist
Richard Rohr has done it again! In The Divine Dance, Richard and Mike Morrell reveal the spiritual paradigm shift that is taking place for us to reexamine how we see God. God is not some far-away threatener but the life-source in all things! This book is life-changing and will make you take a second look at who God really is within creation. Well done! The Divine Dance is top-notch and a must-read!
—Jeremy Lopez
Author, The Power of the Eternal Now
Founder, Identitynetwork.net
The Divine Dance is a love story, calling us forward to embrace the fullness of God in the unitive three parts of God’s self. Fr. Richard Rohr and Mike Morrell invite us to unleash our limited God images—often made small by our vision of singular or separated Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
These pages call us to consciously reunite our God of three to see the full expression of God’s being—like a waterwheel, God flows freely as parts flowing into wholeness.
The Divine Dance offers us the opportunity to fall in love with a robust God, and in doing so, gives us the gift of a divine mirror, which sees and loves us completely, and allows us to embrace and fully love ourselves.
—Teresa B. Mateus, LCSW
Author, Sacred Wounds: A Path to Healing from Spiritual Trauma
teresabmateus.com
Richard Rohr is a friend and contemplative and has taught us so much about the joys of a deep inner spiritual life. In The Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation, Richard maturely explains the nature and deep meaning of the Trinity, which has gone unappreciated by many Christians for much of the last seventeen hundred years. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the relationship between human beings and God more richly and deeply.
—Jim Wallis
President of Sojourners and editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine
New York Times best-selling author, America’s Original Sin
First published in the United States of America in 2016 by Whitaker House, New Kensington, Pennsylvania
Published in Great Britain in 2016
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Copyright © Richard Rohr 2016
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