21 April 2010

a reminder of things.

all excerpts/thoughts/notes from No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton:

[the life of the interior self is so often smothered under the ashes of anxiety and futile concern.

without a life of the spirit, our whole existence becomes unsubstantial and illusory.

anxiety is the mark of spiritual insecurity. a far worse insecurity comes from being afraid to ask the right questions.

the discovery of Christ is never genuine if it is nothing but a flight from ourselves.

to live in hope is to live in poverty, having nothing.
hope deprives us of everything that is not God, in order that all things may serve their true purpose as means to bring us to God.

it is better to find God on the threshold of despair than to risk our lives in a complacency that has never felt the need of forgiveness.

what is most important: to see the value and the beauty in ordinary things, to come alive to the splendor that is all around us in the creatures of God.

the man who can face such dryness and abandonment for a long time, with great patience, and ask nothing more of God but to do His holy will and never offend Him, finally enters into pure prayer.
pure prayer only takes possession of our hearts for good when we no longer desire any special light or grace or consolation for ourselves, and pray without any thought of our own satisfaction.]

to be continued...

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