Introducing the reading for our Fall Series
September through November, 2025
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 in such an unjust world? In his most personal book yet, Richard Rohr turns to the writings of the Jewish prophets, revealing how some of the lesser-read books of the Bible offer us a crucial path forward today. Drawing on a century of biblical scholarship, The Tears of Things breathes new life into ancient wisdom, paving a path of enlightenment for anyone seeking a way of compassionate living in a hurting world.The prophets’ writings reflect the full spectrum of human maturity. In almost every case, their initial rage and their accusatory words evolve into a profound pathos and lamentation about our shared human condition and the world’s suffering. Through astute critiques of culture and institutions, and their journey from anger to sadness, and ultimately compassion, the prophets exemplify what Rohr calls “sacred criticism”—a distinct approach to confronting evil and injustice that acknowledges the wholeness of history, the interconnectedness of every living being, and the reality of a divine and universal love. In this, they set the stage for Jesus, who follows this identical pattern.
Drawing on a century of biblical scholarship and written in the warm, pastoral voice that has endeared Rohr to millions, The Tears of Things breathes new life into ancient wisdom. It paves a path of enlightenment for anyone seeking a compassionate way of living in a hurting world.
Richard Rohr, Franciscan friar and ecumenical teacher, bears witness to the deep wisdom of Christian mysticism and traditions of action and contemplation. Founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, Father Richard teaches how God’s grace guides us to our birthright as beings made of Divine Love. He is the author of numerous books, including The Universal Christ, The Wisdom Pattern, Just This, and Falling Upward.
Ten Thursday mornings via Zoom — Series Tuition: $80
We invite you to register today
for this inspiring program.
Dates of Program: September 11 thru November 13, 2024
Each Thursday morning – 10:00am – 11:30
How: Zoom Platform
Fee: $80.00 The Thomas Heck Memorial Fund is available to those needing scholarship aid, and we encourage donations to the fund from those who are interested supporting our operating costs and each other.
Our work continues by virtue of many contributions.
Please select additional donation option below if your circumstances allow.
Click following button to pay fee & reserve your place today.
additional donation of any amount.
OR make a check made payable to WORD AND LIFE and mail it to:
Word and Life
c/o Joe Schneider
533 Tallant Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
WHEN MAILING CHECK: Please be sure to included a note with
your email address so we can email you your weekly Zoom links.
BOOK FOR THIS STUDY SERIES…
Please order your book early so that you will have it before the series begins.
Click here to order from Chaucer’s Books in SB
Click here to order from Powell’s Books in Portland
Click here to order from Amazon
Schedule of Presentations
| DATE | TOPIC AND CHAPTER(S) | SPEAKER |
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Session 1: |
First Session of the TEARS OF THINGS Book Series |
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Session 2: |
Reflecting on and responding to Chapter 2: |
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Session 3: |
Reflecting on and responding to Chapter 3: |
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Session 4: |
Reflecting on and responding to Chapter 4: |
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Session 5: |
Reflecting on and responding to Chapter 5: |
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Session 6: |
Reflecting on and responding to Chapter 6: |
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Session 7: |
Reflecting on and responding to Chapter 7: |
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Session 8: |
Reflecting on and responding to Chapter 8: |
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Session 9: |
Reflecting on and responding to Chapter 9: |
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Session 10: |
Reflecting on and responding to Chapter 10: |
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Podcasts about this book from the Center for Contemplation and Action
Podcasts Exploring the book THE TEARS OF THINGS
Click section titles or arrowhead icons to
open (drop down)
or close (roll up) 
each podcast.Backstory of our Book Study Series
For 48 years Word and Life has been a community of seekers who listen for the calling of the Spirit and the tenor of the times. The record of our sessions over the last three years details the gradual emergence of another scale of development in our spiritual questing. After two years of focusing on the responses of faith to the healing of democracy and racism, we found ourselves following a series of ‘stepping stones’ that took us beyond our inherited tradition to new sources of wisdom unavailable to the old paradigm.
It began with re-discovering the worldview of Celtic Christianity, then walking the Wisdom Way of Knowing, and culminating in the wholly new understanding of the Wisdom Jesus. Next came the books imparting the powerful concepts of Indigenous Christianity, the Spirit in Nature, and the fusion of those spiritual realities with The Church in The Wild….. all of it summarized in the perennial wisdom of nine Master Teachers in The Great Search.
This Fall of 2025, as we try to find our footing in the earthquake of a fracturing society, we recognize the necessity of using the compass of our entire being to navigate what lies ahead. No one understands this better than Richard Rohr whose teachings in The Tears of Things encourage us to use the emotional honesty of our inner sadness and realization as an act of faith and transformation.
List of Presenters
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Week One (Sept. 11) — Video Recording — Talk by Fr. Richard Rohr
Richard Rohr, Franciscan friar and ecumenical teacher, bears witness to the deep wisdom of Christian mysticism and traditions of action and contemplation. Founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, Father Richard teaches how God’s grace guides us to our birthright as beings made of Divine Love. He is the author of numerous books, including The Universal Christ, The Wisdom Pattern, Just This, and Falling Upward.
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Week Two (Sept. 18) Speaker — Rabbi Arthur Gross-Schaefer
Rabbi Arthur Gross-Schaefer is a very diverse individual whose impact bridges a variety of organizations and touches numerous communities. He is a rabbi, a lawyer, a legal ethicist, a C.P.A., a mediator, a law professor, a writer, an advocate for Israel, a voice for peace in the Middle East, a husband, a father, a friend and a deeply committed Jew. He has been a rabbi in Hollywood, Ojai, and at USC Hillel. He once served as rabbi to Congregation B’nai B’rith in Santa Barbara and carries on an active involvement with them and the other local Jewish congregations as well. Currently, Rabbi Arthur is a professor of business law and chair of the law and marketing department at Loyola Marymount University in L.A. in addition to being the rabbi for the Community Shul of Montecito and Santa Barbara.
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Week Three (Sept. 25) Speaker — Rev. Dr. Tim Burnette
Tim writes and teaches in philosophy, theology, cosmology, and decolonial mysticism. He earned his doctorate from Claremont School of Theology, where he studied process metaphysics and compassion. He has hosted the Theopoetics Podcast and currently curates the Way Collective, which is a contemplative community for love and liberation in Santa Barbara, CA. He is a partner, father, musician, athlete, and avid reader. He agrees with Kurt Vonnegut that you can see all kinds of things from the edge that you can’t see from the center. Although…sometimes it helps to be centered out on the edge as well.
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Week Four (Oct. 2) Speaker – Chaplain John Draper
John came back to Santa Barbara in 2012 with his daughter Danielle. He married his Anam Cara Dawn in 2015. He became an ordained deacon at Trinity Episcopal Church in September of 2021. John enjoys serving at Trinity in a non-stipendiary role as the deacon in both services on Sunday, and preaches on occasion as the voice of the world in the church.
John is passionate about serving as a chaplain at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara where he has the opportunity to meet patients and their families when life has become overwhelming. Co-creating meaning and value with them in their most tender moments as they face an uncertain future is both a blessing and a privilege. John became board certified as a clinical chaplain and pastoral counselor in April of this year.
John is also excited about becoming a volunteer chaplain with the Santa Barbara Police Department and a mentor at Lompoc Federal Penitentiary. There he will facilitate small group discussions with the inmates on basic life skills such as building relationships, accepting personal responsibility, and decision making.
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Week Five (Oct. 9) Speaker — Prof. Kathleen Moore
Kathleen has been a university professor of political science, law and society, and, most recently, religious studies for thirty years. She has authored five books and several articles and has extensively presented her work on religious liberty and pluralism at conferences in the U.S. and worldwide. She is the editor (with Dr. Eric Mazur) of a University of Virginia Press book series on Religious Freedom and Public Dialogue. She was ordained as a vocational deacon in the Episcopal Church in 2021 and is involved in ministry and community service while remaining committed to her educational career. She is the deacon at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Isla Vista, the Episcopal Diocese of LA’s campus ministry at UC Santa Barbara. A mother, teacher, scholar, and nature lover, she is on a dialogical spiritual journey centered on the god in the “between” of us, manifested as personal, social, and ecological relationships.
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Week Six (Oct. 16) Speaker — Alice McDonald
Alice MacDonald has been a member and long-time Coordinator (retiring in 2008) of the Word and Life Community for 48 years. With a Master’s degree in Theology from Loyola Marymount University in LA, she was a founding member for the Institute for Adult Spirituality at the Franciscan Renewal Center at Mission Santa Barbara.
Her interest lies in the Contemplative practice of Silence as an experiential path bridging the traditional gap between God and the World, Spirit and Matter. Her formation and teaching have been shaped by the evolutionary spirituality of Teilhard de Chardin, Richard Rohr, Thomas Berry, and Cynthia Bourgeault among others.
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Week Seven (oct. 23) Speaker — Rev. Sarah Thomas
Sarah currently serves as the Associate Rector at Trinity Episcopal Church, Santa Barbara, where she has served since 2019. Her favorite areas are preaching, creating liturgy, formation, and curating the monthly contemplative Compline service that combines ambient electronic music with storytelling. She earned her MDiv at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, and was trained as a spiritual director at the Stillpoint Center for Christian Spirituality.
Prior to being ordained as a priest, she worked in the theatre and kept busy raising her three daughters. She earned her MFA from the University of Washington, and her BA from Yale University where she studied English Literature and Theatre Studies. She loves to explore ritual, community storytelling, and contemplative Christianity. She has been a part of the Word and Life community for many years and often claims that it has been central to her spiritual and vocational development. She also collaborated with Tim Burnette (one of the speakers in this series) when they worked together for a couple of years at the Way Collective in Santa Barbara.
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Week Eight (Oct. 17) Speaker — Rev. Steve Jacobsen
Steve Jacobsen earned a BA in European History from UCSB, a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Seminary and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Seattle University. He served as a Presbyterian pastor for 30 years, with the last 16 in Goleta.
From 2008-2014 he was Executive Director at Hospice of Santa Barbara; from 2014 to May, 2018 he was Director at La Casa de Maria. He has published a book and 11 articles on the relationship of spirituality to various aspects of daily life, including secular work, leadership and digital technology.
He has been active in interfaith projects with Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist communities. Since “being “released into the wild” and retiring in 2018, he has served as an Interim Pastor, first at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian and now at Summerland Presbyterian. He writes a weekly blog, “Pocket Epiphanies” at www.drjsb.com
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Week Nine (Nov. 6) Speaker — Dr. David Richo
David Richo, PhD, MFT, is a psychotherapist, theologian, teacher, workshop leader, and writer who works in Santa Barbara and San Francisco California. He combines Jungian, poetic, and mythic perspectives in his work with the intention of integrating the psychological and the spiritual. His books and workshops include attention to Buddhist and Christian spiritual practices. To explore Dave Richo’s list of books in print and his library of free spiritual encouragement resources, please visit davericho.com.
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Week Ten (Nov. 13) Speaker — Fr. Jim Clarke, PhD
With an extensive academic background in the fields of spirituality, adult education, counseling, ritual and depth psychology, Fr Jim Clarke currently serves as Coordinator of Spiritual Formation for the Permanent Diaconate Office for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Senior Lecturer of Spiritual Theology at Loyola Marymount University. He is also an Associate Spiritual Director at the Cardinal Manning House of Prayer for Priests.
Fr. Jim’s books and CD series serve to enhance his continuing public ministry of retreats, workshops, and conferences throughout the United States for priests, women religious, parish and school staffs as well as parishes at large. His newest book is: Rethinking Catholic Devotions: Energy, Engagement, Transformation.