good 'grace'ious

"What is 'grace'? It is God's own life, shared by us. God's life is Love. Deus caritas est. By grace we are able to share in the infinitely selfless love of Him Who is such pure actuality that He needs nothing and therefore cannot conceivably exploit anything for selfish ends. Indeed, outside of Him thre is nothing, and whatever exists exists by His free gift of its being, so that one of the notions that is absolutely contradictory to the perfection of God is selfishness. It is metaphysically impossible for God to be selfish, because the existence of everything that is depends upon His gift, depends upon His unselfishness.

When a ray of light strikes crystal, it gives a new quality to the crystal. And when God's infinitely disinterested love plays upon a human soul, the same kind of thing takes place. And that is the life called sanctifying grace."

--Thomas Merton The Seven Storey Mountain (Harcourt Publishers Inc.,
page 186)

if words were a measurement, how deep would this be?

"There is a paradox that lies in the very heart of human existence. It must be apprehended before any lasting happiness is possible in the soul of a man. The paradox is this: man's nature, by itself, can do little or nothing to settle his most important problems. If we follow nothing but our natures, our own philosophies, our own level of ethics, we will end up in hell.

This would be a depressing thought, if it were not purely abstract. Because in the concrete order of things God gave man a nature that was ordered to a supernatural life. He created man with a soul that was made not to bring itself to perfection in its own order, but to be perfected by Him in an order infinitely beyond the reach of human powers. We were never destined to lead purely natural lives, and therefore we were never destined in God's plan for a purely natural beatitude. Our nature, which is a free gift of God, was given to us to be perfected and enhanced by another free gift that is not due it.

This free gift is 'sanctifying grace.' It perfects our nature with the gift of a life, an intellection, a love, a mode of existence infinitely above its own level. If a man were to arrive even at the abstract pinnacle of natural perfection, God's work would not even be half done: it would be only about to begin, for the real work is the work of grace and the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost."
--Thomas Merton The Seven Storey Mountain (Harcourt Publishers, p. 185)

Thomas, but not the train

"Aseitas--the English equivalent is a transliteration: aseity--simply means the power of a being to exist absolutely in virtue of itself, not as caused by itself, but as requiring no cause, no other justification for its existence except that its very nature is to exist. There can be only one such Being: that is God. And to say that God exists a se, of and by and by reason of Himself, is merely to say that God is Being Itself. Ego sum qui sum. And this means that God must enjoy 'complete independence not only as regards everything outside but also as regards everything within Himself.'"
--Thomas Merton Seven Storey Mountain (Harcourt Publishers, p. 189)

Merton 三

"A soul is an inmaterial thing. It is a principle of activity, it is an 'act,' a 'form,' an energizing principle. It is the life of the body, and it must also have a life of its own. But the life of the soul does not inhere in any physical, material subject. So to compare a soul without grace to a corpse without life is only a metaphor. But it is very true."
(Thomas Merton, Seven Storey Mountain, Harcourt Publishers, p.109)

Merton y dos

This quote comes from Thomas Merton's Seven Storey Mountain. This comes from the part of the book where Merton is sick, has gangrene, and is practically on the edge of death...he is at the point where he does not care whether he dies or lives.

"What is more, there was nothing I could do for myself. There was absolutely no means, no natural means within reach, for getting out of that state. Only God could help me. Who prayed for me? One day I shall know. But in the economy of God's love, it is through prayers of other men that these graces are given. It was through the prayers of someone who loved God that I was one day, to be delivered out of that hell where I was already confined without knowing it." (Harcourt Publishers edition p. 109)

You say tomato, I say T. Mert, oh

I realize I have not written much as of late. I dislike very much trying to force some type of inspiration or thought that I have not had. Sometime things come to me daily and I like to share them, but if not, you'll rarely find me typing anyway.

Currently I am reading The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton. For those of you who do not know, Thomas Merton was a monk at Gethsemane in Kentucky. He is world reknown and has written multiple books. This near 500 page book which I am attempting to tackle is his autobiography. Reading this has been a personal goal for a while, and I finally have some free time that affords such a goal to be tackled. I have learned quite a bit from Merton thus far (about 175 pages in) and only expect to learn more.

So here is what all that pre-talk was leading up to... For the next several blogs, I will be leaving you with some words of Merton (referenced in the title as 'T. Mert' if you missed my play on words). I have been marking some quotes of his that were worth thinking about and rereading, so I've go plenty to spread out over multiple days. I hope you enjoy and get something out of them like I have. If it makes you think, or if you'd like to discuss, please comment.

In the following excerpt, Merton reflects on a discussion between his father and a French woman about forgiving her enemies. "He asked her why she thought Christ told people to love their enemies. Did she suppose God commanded this for His benefit? Did He get anything out of it that He really needed from us? Or was it not rather for our own good that He had given us this commandment? He told her that if she had any sense, she would love other people if only for the sake of the good and health and peace of her own soul, instead of tearing herself to pieces with her own envy and spitefulness. It was St. Augustine's argument, that envy and hatred try to pierce our neighbor with a sword, when the blade cannot reach him unless it first passes through our own body." (p.60, Harcourt, Inc. Publishers)

sock it to me

God puts our socks on.

Now don't argue with me. I'm well aware your foot coverings were not majestically placed on your feet by a Deity this morning. Instead this is a picture to parallel the preparation He gives us.

This morning at church, the little 4 year old that sits in my pew decided to randomly put her socks and shoes back on after taking them off (which is her normal routine). I noticed that when she put her socks on, the part that was supposed to be at the ball/heel of her foot was actually on the top of her foot. This made for an awkward uncomfortable fit, ultimately leading to it bunching up in her shoe.

As the little girl went to put her shoe on, her grandmother stopped her. She then proceeded to turn the little one's socks around to the correct position. At first when grandmother did this, the little girl began to struggle against her. It was as if the granddaughter thought the grandmother had become involved in the situation merely to take away the child's ability to do it herself. But to the contrary, the grandmother was assisting the child so that she would be better off later.

I see this situation in our lives a lot with God. He tries to swoop in and rescue us from whatever mistake we're headed into, or He tries to correct us from doing something incorrectly--to teach us the right way. At first, we often fight back. "God, I've got this," we think. After all, in our very independent society, don't we ALWAYS have control? The answer here is no, though we often convince ourselves differently. He chastises and corrects us for our own benefit.

And the truth is, life without God's correction and guidance is a little awkward (like walking around with backward socks). We're not sure what to do. We seek to find the answers in various areas (i.e. sex, women, men, drugs, alcohol, school, work, sports, etc.), drifting about, if we do not find His way.

Another parallel with this story is that for the grandmother, putting a sock on correctly is a very simple task, but for the little girl, it is a challenge. This is true in so much of our lives. Just as the grandmother did, God sees our situation as simple to conquer and He directs us in the right way. At the same time, we struggle with what to Him are the simplest of tasks. If we listen to Him and let Him step in, we find He had the perfect solution all along.

Finally, without socks in the right position, it could have slowed the little girl down. She would have become less focused on her destination and more on the awkward feeling she had as she travelled/walked. Like her, by allowing God to correct our mistakes and put us back in the right position, we become fully prepared for the journey. This way, we are most likely to succeed in the plan He has for us.

That said, be like a well behaved little child, acknowledge your short comings and need for God and let Him take care of you and guide you.
Proverbs 3:5-6,
"5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight."