In his book, New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton said the following in the chapter titled “Sentences.”
To hope is to risk frustration. Therefore, make up your mind to risk frustration. Do not be one of those who, rather than risk failure, never attempts anything.
I am trying to unpack what my spiritual mentor is saying here. Merton was a mystic and prophet way ahead of his time. What he was saying about the 1960’s, Civil Rights, the Military Industrial Complex, and Vietnam was incredibly powerful in his day. It is even more powerful today as we look to the world around us. I sense from reading his journals that he often wanted to retreat away from the crowds of “fans” who invaded his personal space. He also said the following in his journal entry of July 5, 1968: I have felt a little compunction about continuing to proclaim a “message” just because that is what people expect of me. (The Other Side of the Mountain: Journals Volume Seven)
Even as he felt the desire to withdraw from the world, he also felt called to take the risk. He hoped that through his words and his mentoring of activists like Fr Daniel Berrigan, SJ who were actively fighting for peace he could make a difference. Merton often failed and fell short of his self-imposed goals, yet he persevered.
This gives me much hope as I continue to minister in sometimes difficult and frustrating situations. He reminds me that I must risk frustration as I seek to do God’s work in this broken world.
“The wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers has remained important in every age, because it is about the fundamental struggle to live a meaningful and authentic life. In current times, particularly, their wisdom offers a challenge to the values of our contemporary culture – values finely focused on productivity, achievement, ‘power over’ rather than shared power, self-interest rather than interest in the common good, and self-preservation at all costs.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, Desert Mothers and Fathers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Annotated and Explained
What timeless wisdom do you think the world needs most today?
Verse of the day
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. – Romans 12:9 (NIV)
Voice of the day
We must never forget that so long as one group can be targeted with hate, no group is safe. – Rabbi David Saperstein
Prayer of the day
God, as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz today, we honor the lives tragically lost in the past, and also the lives lost at the immigration detention centers in our modern day.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
Another busy Lord’s Day of worship
Another day of contemplation and reflection
Time spent this afternoon with my sweetheart
Time spent walking the lake
An evening of relaxation and chuckling at our puppy
Pixie: Can you see me now?
Me: I see your ears, Pixie!
Pixie: No you don’t!
Times like this are refreshing and good for the soul
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
Is it just me or is dialogue something that seems to be a vanishing species of sorts. I see it everywhere from the church, on the street, on Social Media, and especially in Washington, D.C. The “it” I see is a complete breakdown of any sort of civil discourse or dialogue. Instead of dialogue and respect, I see name calling and the demonization of “the other.”
Right now I am in the middle of reading Merton’s Seventh Journal, The Other Side of the Mountain (1967-1968) Merton was at Our Lady of Gethsemane Abbey when the news of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination. He was heartbroken as was much of America. In RFK, Merton saw hope for a future in this country. Instead he saw the continued breakdown of society.
This breakdown has sadly continued. The emergence of the totalitarian state which Merton foretold is sadly among us. Civil rights being revoked… secret prisons where the “enemy” was tortured in a manner and fashion that totally destroyed any semblance of decency and violated multiple parts of the Geneva Conventions.
On the one hand I am blown away by the prophetic vision of Merton. On the other hand I am incredibly saddened that this vision is still a reality today. Yet even in the midst of all of the turmoil of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement, Merton and others like Dr King encouraged dialogue and a non-violent alternative to settling conflict.
Lord knows we need that sort of dialogue and work for peace today. I came across an article from The Irish Times about the address which Pope Francis delivered to the Houses of Congress in 2015. Here is an excerpt:
When Pope Francis addressed the American Congress in 2015 he listed Thomas Merton as one of four exemplary Americans who provide wisdom for today, besides Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr and Dorothy Day: “Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions.’’ — Irish Times (Dec 3, 2018)
I can only pray that you and I, dear reader, have the courage and the conviction to speak the words that are needed to challenge totalitarianism and promote the way of peace. May God grant us that courage.
A few years ago Denise and I took a short “lighthouse” tour along the Florida Gulf Coast. Lighthouses have always fascinated me. Often perched on rocky and desolate places, the light that they shine is especially crucial to those who sail the waters. Letting your light shine is a crucial part of our call to be Christ-followers.
First Reading – Isaiah 9:1-4
Second Reading – Matthew 4:12-23
Sermon – Let the Light Shine!
Sorry, I didn’t hit record until after I read the Scripture readings.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
We had a long day of travel
Following time with my Dad
Following time at the Seminary
Dad was excited to hear my news
To pursue an advanced degree
The time spent with Thomas Merton has been so good
Time spent in contemplation
Time spent as well with my sweetheart
Now we are snuggled up at home
The fireplace is glowing
Our sweet puppy dog is snuggled in
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
Well said, Jake!
• Compassion replaces judgment.
• Cooperation replaces competition.
• You feel the world’s suffering and loneliness and poverty in your own heart and soul and gut.
• You’re free from resentments and grudges and fear.
• You’ve got eyes wide open to how this world really is, but worry doesn’t rent space in your head anymore.
Read more on — https://jakeowensby.com/2020/01/24/where-love-takes-you/
Over the past six or seven years I have studied at some length, monasticism and the Rule of Benedict as a part of our Certificate in Christian Spiritual Formation through Columbia Presbyterian Theological Seminary. There are four vows a Monk professes in his solemn vows. They are Poverty, Obedience, Chastity, and Stability.
Thomas Merton struggles with several of these vows throughout his time as a Monk. One vow that has come to mind for me is the vow of stability. According to my reading and study of Saint Benedict’s Rule, Stability can be defined in this way. This vow binds the monk in both body and spirit to the community of his profession for the rest of his life, where he serves under both a Rule and an Abbot.
As I look at my own life and professional career, stability would be one of the last things I could claim in my ministry. Three years serving two small churches in West Central Minnesota followed by twenty-one years in the Air Force as a Chaplain which included nine different assignments plus three deployments (which included two war zones). Following my retirement, I have served two churches for the past nine years.
Is that stability? While I have served the Presbyterian Church (USA) in the parish for eleven years and as a chaplain for twenty-one years, I am not certain that I would call that stability. Each church involved a different local governing body and each assignment a different chain of command.
In the midst of all this, I wonder at times about the life of a monk. Merton stayed at Our Lady of Gethsemane in Kentucky from December of 1941 until his death in December of 1968. Interestingly enough, as I read the volume seven, the last of his journals (The Other Side of the Mountain) I was struck with his own struggle surrounding stability. He often chafed at the bit under the rule of some of his Abbots and wished for greater freedom. This was especially evident to me as he supported and mentored various Peacemakers like Fr Daniel Berrigan, SJ.
Tonight I was reading about his incredible experience leading retreats and finding time in solitude on the Pacific coast of California. The following are some excerpts from the entries of May 21st and 24th, 1968.
It was a bright day and the sea was calm, and I looked out over the glittering blue water, realizing more and more that this was where I really belonged. I shall never forget it. I need the sound of those waves, that desolation, that emptiness… I must stay by the ocean at least for a couple of months. I need the silence and emptying… Certainly, every minute I was there, especially by the sea, I felt I was at home….
Spending the past few days with my Dad in the town I grew up in has been an eye opener. Dad moved so much as a child and as an adult. Yet for over fifty years Austin has been his home. It is where he and Mom made their life and raised me. That is certainly stability following years of being a nomad.
Yet for me life has been nomadic to say the least. When I returned to Austin, it is where I grew up and yet is it home? One day Denise and I will retire and find our retirement home. The Gulf Coast and the Rocky Mountains have both welcomed us in our ministry together. In that ministry we have found stability in serving God wherever God has chosen to place us.
Stability is indeed an interesting phenomenon. Is it perhaps one thing for monks and another for those of us who are nomads serving wherever God has called us?
In the end, Merton always returned to Our Lady of Gethsemane. Yet it was far more than the Abbey to whom he returned again and again. He always returned to the one whom he had sworn the vows of a monk. He always returned to God who called him so many years ago. How I would love to spend some time with Merton discussing this and so many other thoughts about life and ministry… likely it would be over a pint!
In God and God’s calling I will find stability. For that calling Denise and I are so very thankful.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been another day of love and reflection
Stories have been shared
Tears have been shed
The visit has been far too short
Yet we are thankful for the time
We are thankful for the love
We are thankful for your presence, Lord
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
