MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
~ Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"
© Abbey of Gethsemani
Last year, a friend shared this little gem of advent wisdom from "Fr. Louis"~
The Advent mystery is the beginning of the end of all in us that is not yet Christ.Praying with this piece of wisdom last year proved to me quite enlightening, and helped me to participate in the joy of the Incarnation is a way that I never had before.
Yesterday, December 10th, was the 43rd anniversary of Thomas Merton's death, and I found a link to the Thomas Merton Institute, where I signed up for an Advent reflection newsletter. This arrived in my "in-box" this morning~
"the only way to enter into that joy is to dwindle down to a vanishing point and become absorbed in God through the center of your own nothingness. The only way to possess His greatness is to pass through the needle's eye of your own absolute insufficiency.
~Thomas Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation. (New York: New Directions Books):
Needless to say, "Fr. Louis" has given me another great Advent gift. I have a feeling that contemplating on these words, in light of where I am on my journey, will bear much fruit.
Some great quotes from Merton! His advent reflection is particularly powerful.
ReplyDeleteEdmundus1581 from CAF :)