Monday, September 03, 2007
Thomas Merton
I have recently been reading "New Seeds of Contemplation" by Thomas Merton.It's a great book, full of depth, at times quite complicated. However, some of the quotes have been so obviously powerful to me, I thought it would be good to share some of them with you in a short series.
Here's the first, to kick-start your week:
"Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny. We are free beings and children of God. This means to say that we should not passively exist, but actively participate in His creative freedom, in our own lives, and in the lives of others by choosing the truth. To put it better, we are even called to share with God the work of creating the truth of our identity. We can evade this responsibility by playing with masks, and this pleases us because it can appear at times to be a free and creative way of living. It is quite easy, it seems, to please everyone. But in the long run, the cost and sorrow come very high. To work out our identity in God, which the Bible calls "working out our salvation," is a labour that requires sacrifice and anguish, risk and many tears. It demands close attention to reality at every moment, and great fidelity to God, as God reveals Godsself, obscurely, in the mystery of each new situation."
Have a good week.
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