Continuing with Merton.
People who know nothing of God and whose lives are centered on themselves, imagine that they can only find themselves by asserting their own desires and ambitions and appetites in a struggle with the rest of the world. They try to become real by imposing themselves on other people, by appropriating for themselves some share of the limited supply of created goods and thus emphasizing the difference between themselves and the other people who have less than they, or nothing at all.
They can only conceive one way of becoming real: cutting themselves off from other people and building a barrier of contrast and distinction between themselves and others. They do not know that reality is to be sought not in division but in unity, for we are "members one of another."
What I like about Thomas Merton is that he seems to write from experience. This is no mere observation of what others do...it is what we all do. We know we are acting contrary to the loving power of God that creates us and gifts us and sends us to be life in the world...and yet, we choose other ways of becoming real. But this way...is the way of death. We move ourselves farther and farther away from others and attempt more and more to build our own lives. In that building, we find many and various ways to separate ourselves from others. I may need to be seen as better or to simple see others as less. Whatever the dynamics and the reasoning, we are involved in that ever-present journey that keeps unfolding our brokenness not our blessedness. Our blessedness comes as we are swept up into the unity of all things.
Connection: A good exercise to maintain unity is to simply question the rational for our divisions. It may be a painful experience and we may even choose only point it out but keep up the division. It is a beginning.
Healing Lord, as you continue to offer us new way to break the cycle of our sin, we continue to find ways to stay put. We long for your Spirit to be the power of our lives that brings us together with others so that we can walk with each other along the path of your truthfulness and life. Amen.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Monday 16 June 2008
This week we will move into a new section of "New Seeds of Contemplation" - Union and Division - by Thomas Merton.
In order to become myself I must cease to be what I always thought I wanted to be, and in order to find myself I must go out of myself, and in order to live I have to die.
The reason for this is that I am born in selfishness and therefore my natural efforts to make myself more real and more myself, make me less real and less myself, because they revolve around a lie.
A seed must fall to the ground and die... The ways we choose to build up our own lives are so often the ways the destroy us. This may be simply in the way we cover over the beauty that is already handed to us by our God. The maintenance of all the layers and coverings that attempt to hide but also attempt to build becomes a life task that does not give us time and space to become the one who is already beloved. Within the moment that we are able to pause and look around and not be concerned with what we must do but are able to appreciate the blessing we "are," we can smell the fragrance of new life meant to open up new gifts. This is not an easy exercise when we are working so hard to "make it" or make it all right.
Connection: What would come to life in us today as we find a space to rest and die and blossom?
Lord of Life, you already claim us and call us to be the ones who have been touched by your creative power. When we are impatient and unwilling to listen to the depths of your promises, it is not easy to feel your touch and your call to life. Settle our hearts that we may experience the wonder of life that is us. Amen.
In order to become myself I must cease to be what I always thought I wanted to be, and in order to find myself I must go out of myself, and in order to live I have to die.
The reason for this is that I am born in selfishness and therefore my natural efforts to make myself more real and more myself, make me less real and less myself, because they revolve around a lie.
A seed must fall to the ground and die... The ways we choose to build up our own lives are so often the ways the destroy us. This may be simply in the way we cover over the beauty that is already handed to us by our God. The maintenance of all the layers and coverings that attempt to hide but also attempt to build becomes a life task that does not give us time and space to become the one who is already beloved. Within the moment that we are able to pause and look around and not be concerned with what we must do but are able to appreciate the blessing we "are," we can smell the fragrance of new life meant to open up new gifts. This is not an easy exercise when we are working so hard to "make it" or make it all right.
Connection: What would come to life in us today as we find a space to rest and die and blossom?
Lord of Life, you already claim us and call us to be the ones who have been touched by your creative power. When we are impatient and unwilling to listen to the depths of your promises, it is not easy to feel your touch and your call to life. Settle our hearts that we may experience the wonder of life that is us. Amen.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Friday 13 June 2008
Today will be the last piece from Merton's chapter "Things in Their Identity."
Ultimately the only way that I can be myself is to become identified with God in Whom is hidden the reason and fulfillment of my experience.
Therefore there is only one problem on which all my existence, my peace and my happiness depend: to discover myself in discovering God. If I find God I will find myself and if I find my true self I will find God.
Could be nothing more than talking in circles...right?!? Then again, what's wrong with talking in circles when the circle leads us into a greater unfolding of who we are as created by the God who loves us and calls us to be stewards of life. Quite honestly, we are not able to find God. God is constantly revealing God's self to us. I may have all sorts of characters I attempt to be or characters I am fooled into saying are me...but our God continues to call forth the blessed one that is me. As I know our God as gracious and merciful and slow to anger and abiding in steadfast love, I am learning to know a bit about me. Too often the bit about me is rejected or ignored for something else about me...something I have been able to put together of my own doing. And yet...as we each touch the reality of our own lives and how we are grasped by God and shaped by God, there really is no power that can take away the true self that comes to life. It is the person God blesses and saves and empowers and encourages even as we are tempted to not listen to who it is God sees in us. Seeing God...seeing self - it all takes vision...and that, is a gift from God in the first place.
Connection: Looking in the mirror or reflecting on our lives is a first step in taking note about how expansive God's love is and what it creates everyday through us. Go take a look at God's creative work.
Lord of Peace and Grace, when you call us each by name we are moved to a greater understanding of how you view all your beloved. As we turn to face others, we see what you love and by seeing that, you pave the way for peacemaking rather than war - reconciliation rather than bitterness. We thank you, O God. Amen.
Ultimately the only way that I can be myself is to become identified with God in Whom is hidden the reason and fulfillment of my experience.
Therefore there is only one problem on which all my existence, my peace and my happiness depend: to discover myself in discovering God. If I find God I will find myself and if I find my true self I will find God.
Could be nothing more than talking in circles...right?!? Then again, what's wrong with talking in circles when the circle leads us into a greater unfolding of who we are as created by the God who loves us and calls us to be stewards of life. Quite honestly, we are not able to find God. God is constantly revealing God's self to us. I may have all sorts of characters I attempt to be or characters I am fooled into saying are me...but our God continues to call forth the blessed one that is me. As I know our God as gracious and merciful and slow to anger and abiding in steadfast love, I am learning to know a bit about me. Too often the bit about me is rejected or ignored for something else about me...something I have been able to put together of my own doing. And yet...as we each touch the reality of our own lives and how we are grasped by God and shaped by God, there really is no power that can take away the true self that comes to life. It is the person God blesses and saves and empowers and encourages even as we are tempted to not listen to who it is God sees in us. Seeing God...seeing self - it all takes vision...and that, is a gift from God in the first place.
Connection: Looking in the mirror or reflecting on our lives is a first step in taking note about how expansive God's love is and what it creates everyday through us. Go take a look at God's creative work.
Lord of Peace and Grace, when you call us each by name we are moved to a greater understanding of how you view all your beloved. As we turn to face others, we see what you love and by seeing that, you pave the way for peacemaking rather than war - reconciliation rather than bitterness. We thank you, O God. Amen.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Thursday 12 June 2008
More by Thomas Merton
The secret of my identity is hidden in the love and mercy of God.
But whatever is in God is really identical with God, for God's infinite simplicity admits no division and no distinction. Therefore I cannot hope to find myself anywhere except God.
I cannot hope to find myself anywhere except...in the love and mercy of God - for that is God. This is our Alpha and Omega. We all look everywhere else in the world for who we are and who we can be. And yet, there is our God - full of love and mercy - longing for us to be seen as we are - beloved. Our identity is that we are beloved and precious. No matter what we think of ourselves or others, God holds the identity of each of us. It is our eternal identity. Imagine how we would treat ourselves and our neighbors and those we consider enemies if we would consider this common identity. From this point, the oneness of God's Reign shines through and it is a powerful and creative place to be.
Connection: Beloved are you...and the one next to you. Yes.
Come, O Life, Come and take us up within your love and mercy so that we would begin to see all things with new eyes. We are the power of your loving presence....we praise you, O God. Amen.
The secret of my identity is hidden in the love and mercy of God.
But whatever is in God is really identical with God, for God's infinite simplicity admits no division and no distinction. Therefore I cannot hope to find myself anywhere except God.
I cannot hope to find myself anywhere except...in the love and mercy of God - for that is God. This is our Alpha and Omega. We all look everywhere else in the world for who we are and who we can be. And yet, there is our God - full of love and mercy - longing for us to be seen as we are - beloved. Our identity is that we are beloved and precious. No matter what we think of ourselves or others, God holds the identity of each of us. It is our eternal identity. Imagine how we would treat ourselves and our neighbors and those we consider enemies if we would consider this common identity. From this point, the oneness of God's Reign shines through and it is a powerful and creative place to be.
Connection: Beloved are you...and the one next to you. Yes.
Come, O Life, Come and take us up within your love and mercy so that we would begin to see all things with new eyes. We are the power of your loving presence....we praise you, O God. Amen.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Wednesday 11 June 2008
We continue with Merton as he looks at sin and our false self.
All sin starts from the assumption that my false self, the self that exists only in my own egocentric desires, is the fundamental reality of life to which everything else in the universe is ordered. Thus I use up my life in the desire for pleasures and the thirst for experiences, for power, honor, knowledge and love, to clothe this false self and construct its nothingness into something objectively real. And I wind experiences around myself and cover myself with pleasures and glory like bandages in order to make myself perceptible to myself and to the world, as if I were an invisible body that could only become visible when something visible covered its surface.
This is another wonderful picture of Luther's way of referring to sin as "turned-in-on-self." In this state, that comes so natural to all of us, the universe does become that which spins around me....and that is everything. Once again, we must remember that we are each beloved from before we begin our very first attempt to wind experiences around us that we thing make us somebody. Before our attempt to make something of ourselves, God has already given us the very rock upon which we are able to come to life without hesitation. And yet, to be standing out on that rock is not always what we want. So we cover it up with what we think will give us worth and power and all that will make us more than what we are now. Merton's notes that we each "cover myself with pleasures and glory like bandages." What an interesting way to look at the pleasures and glory we make for ourselves - bandages. What people then see about us is not the beloved of one God...but rather, that wounded one who at all costs will try to make more of who we are by gift alone.
Connection: Let's all take a look around today and see if we can see the bandages with which those around us are wrapped. It may come more easy to us as we look at our enemies. But then, take a look at those most beloved of us...and then...look in the mirror.
Bless us, O God, so that we will find again the simple word you address to us...a word of love and hope and joy and peace. For in your creative work, you have already lifted us up to life that is about to become brimful. And yet, we continue to be lost within ourselves so that we cannot hear your words of renewal and hope. Amen.
All sin starts from the assumption that my false self, the self that exists only in my own egocentric desires, is the fundamental reality of life to which everything else in the universe is ordered. Thus I use up my life in the desire for pleasures and the thirst for experiences, for power, honor, knowledge and love, to clothe this false self and construct its nothingness into something objectively real. And I wind experiences around myself and cover myself with pleasures and glory like bandages in order to make myself perceptible to myself and to the world, as if I were an invisible body that could only become visible when something visible covered its surface.
This is another wonderful picture of Luther's way of referring to sin as "turned-in-on-self." In this state, that comes so natural to all of us, the universe does become that which spins around me....and that is everything. Once again, we must remember that we are each beloved from before we begin our very first attempt to wind experiences around us that we thing make us somebody. Before our attempt to make something of ourselves, God has already given us the very rock upon which we are able to come to life without hesitation. And yet, to be standing out on that rock is not always what we want. So we cover it up with what we think will give us worth and power and all that will make us more than what we are now. Merton's notes that we each "cover myself with pleasures and glory like bandages." What an interesting way to look at the pleasures and glory we make for ourselves - bandages. What people then see about us is not the beloved of one God...but rather, that wounded one who at all costs will try to make more of who we are by gift alone.
Connection: Let's all take a look around today and see if we can see the bandages with which those around us are wrapped. It may come more easy to us as we look at our enemies. But then, take a look at those most beloved of us...and then...look in the mirror.
Bless us, O God, so that we will find again the simple word you address to us...a word of love and hope and joy and peace. For in your creative work, you have already lifted us up to life that is about to become brimful. And yet, we continue to be lost within ourselves so that we cannot hear your words of renewal and hope. Amen.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Here we hear how this illusory self is what we know as sin - Merton continues.
We are not very good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish about ourselves - the ones we are born with and which feed the roots of sin. For most of the people in the world, there is no greater subjective reality than this false self of theirs, which cannot exist. A. life devoted to the cult of this shadow is what is called a life of sin.
Remember that we are blessed to be a people meant for community. It is only within the circle of others that we are given a picture of ourselves that is not based on the cherished illusions of ourselves. We are, as Merton notes, not good at recognizing illusions. How can we be!?! The illusions are the things of our creating...the face...the facade...the make-up that covers blemishes and attempts to transform us from who we are by grace - into who we want to become according to our own storyline. The pursuit of such a false self is life consuming. Nothing else can come to life and blossom. The "me" of this venture becomes the head of the "cult" that will never show us the truth, the way, or the life.
Connection: We are beloved and gifted as we have others around us who will help us see through the fog of our own illusions and come to see the beloved of God...that is each one of us.
You, O God, patiently wait for us to awaken to the word of love you send spinning into our world. Too often, we would rather live within a dream than be at rest in you alone. When you give us a place to rest, we are given the opportunity to hear your word of love and mercy that brings out the gifts of our lives as you see us. Thanks be to you, O God. Amen.
We are not very good at recognizing illusions, least of all the ones we cherish about ourselves - the ones we are born with and which feed the roots of sin. For most of the people in the world, there is no greater subjective reality than this false self of theirs, which cannot exist. A. life devoted to the cult of this shadow is what is called a life of sin.
Remember that we are blessed to be a people meant for community. It is only within the circle of others that we are given a picture of ourselves that is not based on the cherished illusions of ourselves. We are, as Merton notes, not good at recognizing illusions. How can we be!?! The illusions are the things of our creating...the face...the facade...the make-up that covers blemishes and attempts to transform us from who we are by grace - into who we want to become according to our own storyline. The pursuit of such a false self is life consuming. Nothing else can come to life and blossom. The "me" of this venture becomes the head of the "cult" that will never show us the truth, the way, or the life.
Connection: We are beloved and gifted as we have others around us who will help us see through the fog of our own illusions and come to see the beloved of God...that is each one of us.
You, O God, patiently wait for us to awaken to the word of love you send spinning into our world. Too often, we would rather live within a dream than be at rest in you alone. When you give us a place to rest, we are given the opportunity to hear your word of love and mercy that brings out the gifts of our lives as you see us. Thanks be to you, O God. Amen.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Monday 9 June 2008
This week begins with a move into a deeper look at our "false self." Thomas Merton.
Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self.
This is the person I want myself to be but who cannot exist, because God does not know anything about him/her. And to be unknown of God is altogether too much privacy.
My false and private self is the one who wants to exist outside the reach of God's will and God's love - outside of reality and outside of life. And such a self cannot help but be an illusion.
This person cannot exist because God does not know anything about him/her. What a powerful word. The person God created as me...as you, has a future that is within God's Reign that become the unfolding of our present person - beloved of God. Whenever we attempt to put some other image of self on the table - someone other than the beloved of God - we must remember that it is someone build on an illusion. It is a person built on what we would make and what we would like to see be our reality. And yet, as Merton notes, this is a false self...an illusory person. We build this person out of many images and dreams and attempts to fashion our lives into the lives of gods. When we go there...we move away from our God who really knows us at the very heart of what God has called beloved. What we build will whither...like the grass. What God makes of us is firm and full of potential and will not wither or decay. The spirit of life that God sends to help us unfold as God's beloved - as God sees us - will see to the integrity of our being no matter what the situation at hand presents to us. No illusion...just the reality of God's knowledge of us as God's own.
Connection: We are continuously called into a position of vulnerability so that the power of our God to make us whole will be seen by us. How does one face up to our own illusions...and who will be the people around us that will help us see through the mist of those illusions.
Living Lord, you are the stream of life that flows eternally through our lives. You are the water that refreshes us so that we will again and again be drawn to your life-giving presence that continues to make us into your beloved. We give you thanks. Amen.
Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self.
This is the person I want myself to be but who cannot exist, because God does not know anything about him/her. And to be unknown of God is altogether too much privacy.
My false and private self is the one who wants to exist outside the reach of God's will and God's love - outside of reality and outside of life. And such a self cannot help but be an illusion.
This person cannot exist because God does not know anything about him/her. What a powerful word. The person God created as me...as you, has a future that is within God's Reign that become the unfolding of our present person - beloved of God. Whenever we attempt to put some other image of self on the table - someone other than the beloved of God - we must remember that it is someone build on an illusion. It is a person built on what we would make and what we would like to see be our reality. And yet, as Merton notes, this is a false self...an illusory person. We build this person out of many images and dreams and attempts to fashion our lives into the lives of gods. When we go there...we move away from our God who really knows us at the very heart of what God has called beloved. What we build will whither...like the grass. What God makes of us is firm and full of potential and will not wither or decay. The spirit of life that God sends to help us unfold as God's beloved - as God sees us - will see to the integrity of our being no matter what the situation at hand presents to us. No illusion...just the reality of God's knowledge of us as God's own.
Connection: We are continuously called into a position of vulnerability so that the power of our God to make us whole will be seen by us. How does one face up to our own illusions...and who will be the people around us that will help us see through the mist of those illusions.
Living Lord, you are the stream of life that flows eternally through our lives. You are the water that refreshes us so that we will again and again be drawn to your life-giving presence that continues to make us into your beloved. We give you thanks. Amen.
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