Jesus’ teaching is summarized in one line: “The time is fulfilled, and the Reign of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15). Conversion is not a learning as much as it is an unlearning. Conversion is an unlearning that comes like a dove descending (see Mark 1:10) once the old world order is unmasked and the Great Lover is revealed. No wonder we had to use phrases like falling from a horse, scales falling from our eyes (see Acts 9:18), and the crowing of the cock (Luke 22:61).
—from the book Jesus’ Alternative Plan: The Sermon on the Mount
by Richard Rohr, OFM
