More on the saint in the midst of the holy - by Thomas Merton.
Some people seem to think that a saint cannot possibly take a natural interest in anything created. They imagine that any form of spontaneity or enjoyment is a sinful gratification of "fallen nature." that to be "supernatural" means obstructing all spontaneity with cliches and arbitrary references to God The purpose of these cliches is, so to speak, to hold everything at arms length, to frustrate spontaneous reactions, to exorcise feelings of guilt. Or perhaps to cultivate such feelings. One wonders sometimes if such morality is not after all a love of guilt! They suppose that the life of a saint can never be anything but a perpetual dual with guilt, and that a saint cannot even drink a glass of cold water without making an act of contrition for slaking his thirst, as if that were a mortal sin. As if for the saints every response to beauty, to goodness, to the pleasant, were an offense. As if the saint could never allow him/herself to be pleased with anything but his prayers and his interior acts of piety.
Being a saint is a joy. Being a saint is to be alive and in the midst of God's creation and able to jump and leap and dance and sing whenever...and where ever! Imagine a community of saints in which the saints were to hold everything and everyone at arms length. It would not be the community of saints called the church. We embrace one another...even if that doesn't mean a literal embrace. To draw away from others is to put our selves in the position of the powers of hell for by definition, hell is where we begin and continue to be separate from one another. We are a part of the beauty and diversity and awesome creativity of God's Reign. As we reflect on that position, we are able to honor all of creation and move toward all things without carrying the burden of guilt. Once we honor creation as we are absorbed in God's glory, we become a part of the gracious care of all and not the monitor of what can and cannot be. When we lock ourselves away and consider the life of the saint as "other-worldly" we take away from the saint the very thing given by God...life...to the fullest.
Connection: When you come in touch with a morality that if filled with guilt, it is a sure sign that those around you are not absorbed in the vision of God's Reign....it is mostly the vision of their own reign. When that happens, become more absorbed in the wonder of God's Reign.
Lord of Life, it is by your very breath that we are refreshed and renewed. There are so many times when we are in the middle of those who point finger and it is easy to point along with them. Keep our eyes on your glorious graciousness and open us up to the touch of your closeness. Amen.
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