For all those who have been hurt, neglected, abused, abandoned or otherwise damaged by their faulty earthly fathers, this is a beautiful reminder of where we will find what we yearn for.
Into a place of abundance
For You have put us to the test, God; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid an oppressive burden upon us. You made men ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water. Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance. Psalm 66:10-12, NASB
The Kingdom remembers you, T.M.
Fifty three years ago today, Thomas Merton departed this earthly plane. We are fortunate that he left us so much. The imagined presence of the naughty monk with a twinkle in his eye has kept me company over the last couple of years – years that have been characterised by unquantifiable human stupidity, undisguised global authoritarianism and, at least for some, edifying solitude. Of the five books from his giant oeuvre of works that I have thus far read, two in particular stand out: ‘No Man Is An Island’ and ‘New Seeds of Contemplation’. A thousand searing challenges rise from the pages of these books, and a thousand pennies have dropped as a result.
"Do you imagine that you will discover God by winding yourself up in a cocoon of spiritual and aesthetic pleasures, instead of renouncing all your tastes and desires and ambitions and satisfactions for the love of Christ, Who will not even live within you if you cannot find Him in other men?" - New Seeds of Contemplation.
I dare not write in detail for fear of diluting the purity of his message. The depth and breadth he offers is beyond the scope of any summary that I could give. So I encourage you to read these books. Personally speaking, Merton has helped me to bring scripture into relationship with silence, and pain into kinship with purpose. If you let his inspired words into your heart, they are powerful and unifying.
"God's will is not an abstraction, not a machine, not an esoteric system. It is a living concrete reality in the lives of men, and our souls are created to burn as flames within His flame. The will of the Lord is not a static centre drawing our souls blindly toward itself. It is a creative power, working everywhere, giving life and being and direction to all things, and above all forming and creating in the midst of an old creation, a whole new world which is called the Kingdom of God." - No Man Is An Island.
Perfection
Allegri’s setting of Psalm 51, a prayer of repentance
Satan’s Sermon
You are my servants, vassals to, the earthly feudal lords who revel in the power of their temporal rewards. With streams of sacrificial blood their meal time and their play, my bloodlines will persist in this deception and decay. You slaves cleave to your comfort and your shallow, sensual days - a somnambulant collective I make changeless in its ways. Dear fools you carved my fiefdom, smothered truth and so obscured the fact of God’s One Kingdom and your victory assured. You chose the perfect master for you do not wish to know the pain of transformation that must come to those who grow. I’ll keep you safe, bound as I am, and help you to evade the word of truth, the way, the light, the reason you were made. With thanks to Screwtape. 10th May 2021, Wiltshire, England.
An act of consent
“Let the command of His love be felt at the roots of my existence. Then let me understand that I do not consent to exist, but that I exist in order to consent. This is the living source of virtuous action: for all our good acts are acts of consent to the indications of His mercy and the movements of His grace.”
Thomas Merton, No Man Is An Island
Regeneration
Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Conquerers
Our peace in this present life should not depend on absence of adversity but on humble acceptance. Those who accept suffering will enjoy peace. Such a person is a conqueror of the self, a ruler of the world, a friend of Christ and an inheritor of heaven.
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ
The truth from above – traditional English carol
Unabridged Lyrics: This is the truth sent from above, The truth of God, the God of love: Therefore don't turn me from your door, But hearken all, both rich and poor. The first thing which I do relate Is that God did man create, The next thing which to you I'll tell, Woman was made with man to dwell. Then, after this, 'twas God's own choice To place them both in Paradise, There to remain, from evil free, Except they ate of such a tree. And they did eat, which was a sin, And thus their ruin did begin. Ruined themselves, both you and me, And all of their posterity. Thus we were heirs to endless woes, Till God the Lord did interpose, And so a promise soon did run, That he would redeem us by his Son. And at this season of the year Our blest Redeemer did appear, And here did live, and here did preach, and many thousands he did teach. Thus he in love to us behaved, To show us how we must be saved; And if you want to know the way, Be pleased to hear what he did say: "Go preach the Gospel," now he said, "To all the nations that are made! And he that does believe on me, From all his sins I'll set him free." O seek! O seek of God above That saving faith that works by love! And, if he's pleased to grant thee this, Thou'rt sure to have eternal bliss. God grant to all within this place True saving faith, that special grace Which to his people doth belong: And thus I close my Christmas song.
The illusion of our own power
We cannot find Him Who is Almighty unless we are taken entirely out of our own weakness. But we must first find out our own nothingness before we can pass beyond it: and this is impossible as long as we believe in the illusion of our own power.
Thomas Merton, No man is an island
Being a walking question mark 