Tag: Merton
The world and time are the dance of the Lord in emptiness
What is serious to human beings is often trivial in the sight of God. What in God might appear to us as “play” is perhaps what God takes most seriously. God plays…in the garden of creation, and, if we could let go of our obsessions with what we think is the meaning of it all,… Read More ›
In the end there is no room for us
We live in the time of no room, which is the time of the end. The time when everyone is obsessed with lack of time, lack of space, with saving time, conquering space, projecting into time and space the anguish produced within them by the technological furies of size, volume, quantity, speed, number, price, power… Read More ›
My destiny depends on my decisions
Since I am a [human being], my destiny depends on my human behavior: that is to say, upon my decisions. I must first of all appreciate this fact, and weigh the risks and difficulties it entails. I must, therefore, know myself, and know both the good and the evil that are in me. It will… Read More ›
True communication
Where men live huddled together without true communication, there seems to be greater sharing, and a more genuine communion. But this is not communion, only immersion in the general meaninglessness of countless slogans and cliches repeated over and over again so that in the end one listens without hearing and responds without thinking. The constant… Read More ›
The saint is united to God in the depths of his own being
True sanctity does not consist in trying to live without creatures. It consists in using the goods of life in order to do the will of God. It consists in using God’s creation in such a way that everything we touch and see and use and love gives new glory to God. To be a… Read More ›
The grace of God transforms the soul
What is “grace?” It is God’s own life, shared with us. God’s life is Love. Deus caritas est. By grace we are able to share in the infinitely selfless love of Him Who is such pure actuality that He needs nothing and therefore cannot conceivably exploit anything for selfish ends. Indeed, outside of Him there… Read More ›
Ego-Image: We must go back to the beginning.
To assume that my superficial ego — this cramp of the imagination — is my real self is to begin by dishonoring myself and reality. Then I am left with a choice between a servile adjustment that submits to facts and manipulates my ego-concept to defend it against subversion by the facts, or else a… Read More ›
The true solitary has a divine work to do in the world
The true solitary does not have to run away from others: they cease to notice him, because he does not share their love for an illusion. The soul that is truly solitary becomes perfectly colorless and ceases to excite either the love or the hatred of others by reason of solitude. The true solitary can,… Read More ›
If we do not think, we cannot act freely.
Well, the need has been desperately urgent, not for one year or ten, but for fifty, sixty, seventy, a hundred years. If, when thought is needed, nobody does any thinking, if everyone assumes that someone else is thinking, then it is clear that no one is thinking either for himself or for anybody else. Instead… Read More ›
We are all inclined to idolatry
My thesis is now clear: in my opinion the root of our trouble is that our habits of thought and the drives that proceed from them are basically idolatrous and mythical. We are all the more inclined to idolatry because we imagine that we are of all generations the most enlightened, the most objective, the… Read More ›