The honesty of being a self and holding forth as one. Some more thoughts by Thomas Merton.
Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny. We are free beings and sons/daughters of God. This means to say that we should not passively exist, but actively participate in God's creative freedom, in our own lives, and in the lives of others, by choosing the truth. To put it better, we are even called to share with God the work of creating the truth of our identity.
So...our very prayers are not merely silent or vocal words of hopefulness and thanksgiving. Our prayers become the lives we enter and take on as we, with God, fashion our identity and destiny as God's beloved. It is all too easy to sit back and expect that others will act. At times that is also how we look at our prayers...something or someone will act for us. And yet, prayer brings us into direct contact with our world and the life situations that wait for our participation as the beloved of God. Choosing the truth is life in itself...it is vision...it is hope...it is liberation...it is creation on the move and active and making sure that new things continue to burst into life. Truth means that we each must enter that vital work of being truthful. We must not use it to tear down - although sometimes the truth will tear away the masks of any of us who wear them. As we are the beloved of God and live into that reality, our masks are to drop and we are left to be vulnerable and truthful in the face of any power that may want to have its way among us.
Connection: So, in the middle of what we think is our vocation, there is the vocation of being...being the beloved of God. That vocation may help us bring integrity to any other vocation we claim for ourselves.
When you create, O God, you let all that comes into being...be. For your saints, it is not always an easy way because we allow ourselves to serve other ways. Be for us the guiding light and touch that helps us walk within the truthfulness of our place in your Reign. Amen.
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