Sunday, February 26, 2012

A Year With Thomas Merton - February 26



Our Blindness


Although it is almost unbelievable to imagine this country being laid to waste, yet that is very probably what is going to happen.

Without serious reason, without people "wanting" it, and without them being able to prevent it, because of their incapacity to use the power they have acquired, they must be used by it.

Hence the absolute necessity of taking this fact soberly into account and living in the perspectives that it establishes--an almost impossible task.

1. Preeminence of meditation and prayer, of self-emptying, cleaning out, getting rid of the self that blocks the view of truth. The self that says it will be here and then that it will not be here.

2. Preeminence of compassion for every living thing, for life, for the defenseless and simple beings, for the human race in its blindness. For Christ, crucified in His image. Eucharistic sacrifice, without justification.

3. Weariness of words, except in friendship, and in the simplest and most direct kind of communication, by word of mouth or letter.

4. Preeminence of the silent and inconclusive action--if any presents itself. And meaningful suffering, accepted in complete silence, without justification.

February 27, 1962, IV.205-6

1 comment:

  1. Reading a book entitled Under Surge / Under Siege. It is a collection of stories of people of Bay St. Louis and New Orleans surviving, claiming their strength, rebuilding their town and their lives. Thus, the photo. There is nothing like your life being laid to waste to make you reassess your priorities, your truths, your faith.

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