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We are a center for experiential education, rooted in the Gospels, encouraging the transformation of human consciousness through contemplation, and equipping people to be instruments of peaceful change in the world.
Breathing Under Water - Fr. Richard's New Book
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Contact the Center for Action and Contemplation at (505) 247-1636 or (505) 242-9588 for bulk orders.
About the Book
We suffer to get well. We surrender to win. We die to live. We give it away to keep it. This counterintuitive wisdom will forever be resisted, denied, and avoided, until it is forced upon us—by some reality over which we are powerless — and if we are honest, we are all powerless in the presence of full Reality.
– Richard Rohr, Breathing Under Water–
In Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps, Fr. Richard describes how the Twelve Steps of the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) program is America’s most significant and authentic contribution to the history of spirituality.
In this exploration, Fr. Richard draws parallels between Christian principles and AA’s Twelve Steps, connecting AA’s Big Book with the Gospel. This material draws on talks he has given for over twenty years to people in recovery and those close to them, as well as those who counsel people recovering from or living with an addiction. It is a practical guide to incorporating liturgy and contemplative prayer with the accountability of the 12 Steps Model, in a useful format, suitable either for a home study group or an individual seeking to deepen their own recovery journey.
Fr. Richard offers encouragement and inspiration to survive the tidal wave of compulsive behavior and addiction by learning to “breathe under water”.
To access the study guide for
Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and The Twelve Steps
please click here to download a PDF version.




