Being Yourself — Thomas Merton

Some food for thought as we begin our retreat at Epworth By the Sea tomorrow.

It seems to me that I have greater peace and am close to God when I am not “trying to be a contemplative,” or trying to be anything special, but simply orienting my life fully and completely towards what seems to be required of a man like me at a time like this. — Thomas Merton (January 23 and 24, 1958, p. 159 — A Search for Solitude: Pursuing the Monk’s True LifeThe Journals of Thomas Merton, Volume 3: 1952-1960)