-
To be a saint
We carry too much false humility in our lives. Or, if we truly wish to “achieve” we aim high at material goals or career ideals. But in our spiritual lives? We shroud ourselves in false humility or we don’t understand the true human potential and think we just want to survive this life and hope to see Jesus some day…
-
The beauty of entering into Christ
It is doubtful I have reread any book as much as Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton. It is far more moving to me than Augustine’s Confessions. The story of coming to faith, the journey, along with Merton’s prose, deeply move me.
-
The nourishment of my soul
I have finished Thoughts in Solitude by Thomas Merton. There are some key thoughts from his book that stir my own story. Nourished by the Sacraments and formed by the prayer and teaching of the Church, we need seek nothing but the particular place willed for us by God within the Church.
-
A prayer of wandering
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the…
-
Souls are like athletes…
“Souls are like athletes, that need opponents worthy of them, if they are to be tried and extended and pushed to the full use of their powers, and rewarded to their capacity.” — Thomas Merton, Seven Storey Mountain
-
Soak yourself in the Kingdom of God
With conspiracy theories figuratively to the left of me… and the right of me… with apologies to Tennyson… this passage of Scripture reminds me of the focus:
-
The deep hunger in our souls
Almost every year I pull out Seven Storey Mountain (the autobiography of Thomas Merton) and read it. It’s one of the few books I have read multiple times. I have a fresh (used) copy so I can try to read with fresh eyes instead of floating to my markings and skimming too much. This first paragraph is such a grasp…
-
Divine opportunities in the time of coronavirus
“You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith, and hope.” — Thomas Merton
-
The fallacy of “success”
“The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men! A weird life it is, indeed, to be living always in somebody else’s imagination, as if that were the only place in which one could at last become real!” — Thomas Merton, Seven Storey Mountain
-
Take up the high calling
“Whoever you are, the land to which God has brought you is not like the land of Egypt from which you came out. You can no longer live there. Your old life and your former ways are crucified now, and you must not seek to live any more for your own gratification, but give up your own judgement into the hands…
Tag: Thomas Merton
