@thomasknoll

Contemplation

I’ve started reading New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton. Very insightful and exciting book. Something I read today reminded me of the movie Hollow Man (which has a 0 degree of separation from Kevin Bacon). Merton says this:

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.

Essentially, Merton suggests that we find ourselves when we take off our masks and allow God to sanctify us and recreate us to who he intended for us to be. And no amount of trying or striving on our part can make us who we are. Therefore , the true contemplative is the one who has found God, because God found them.

Posted

in

by

thomasknoll

Tags:

Comments

2 responses to “Contemplation”

  1. Dan Meloche Avatar
    Dan Meloche

    I have been reading ‘New seeds of Contemplation’ for about 13 years and you said it correctly, it is a very exciting book. Thomas Merton means a lot to me in my own personal quest, which is simply to live as honestly as I can so that I may get a clearer glimpse of my own true self. Sometimes I think that the 80 short years that we spend on this planet is just not enough time to make that discovery. TM called the world ‘a sea of lies’ and for us, living in the Western world, there is no escape from this fact and if we’re really lucky we come to this realization and begin the journey to our true self. So many years of untruths all around us, so many masks. Jesus said, we can do all that he did and more. He also said, that we must learn to live in the world but not of it. So much potential and so little time.

    Reply
  2. tk Avatar
    tk

    Dan,

    Thanks for stopping by. It’s always great to meet a fellow Merton fan. How did you first run into him? And how did you find dydimustk.com?

    Reply

Leave a Reply