This week Thomas Merton makes some connections between contemplation and action in the society.
Gandhi's career was eminently active rather than contemplative. ...his days of silence and retirement were not days of mere"privacy"; they belonged to India and he owed them to India, because his "spiritual life" was simply his participation in the life and dharma (religion, duty) of his people. Their liberation and the recovery of their political unity would be meaningless unless their liberty and unity had a dimension that was primarily spiritual and religious.
He may have been in a private situation...looking like he was alone. Then again, looking alone and being alone are quite different. When it says his days of silence and retirement - "belonged to India and he owed them to India," I think it makes us have to re-view the meaning of a contemplative life. To divide the world into two separate life situations would be to lose the power of what it means to be "spiritual." If the cosmos is created by the Spirit hovering over the void and being a part of the creative adventure of God, then nothing can be shut off from other parts with the belief that we can rise above or beyond or be disconnected from the life of the society and world. Setting the captive free is a liberation that takes place...within the deepest part of our hearts...the essence of our being...and throughout the whole world in which there are people locked away from the life that is meant for all.
Connection: It is so easy to slip from one side to the other and not be able to keep this wonderful balance that, again, like a breath, must be complete to make the world and our individual selves whole.
Breathe again and inspire us, O God, so that no matter what is on the agenda of this day, we will remain connected to you through our connections with all we encounter along the way. Amen.
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