Three words stand out: humility, surrender, peace. Common words, hard words, deep words, words that are difficult to define and even more difficult to connect, I find. Will you help?
The writer of the introduction asserts: “For us to live unkindly with one another is to live unnaturally.” If we agree this is true we have much work to do it seems to me.
Some questions:
How does my own living measure in particular against the statement? Am I unkind? How? When? Where? With whom?
How does our collective living measure in particular against the statement? Are we a kindly living people?
How does my own living measure in particular against the statement? Am I unkind? How? When? Where? With whom?
How does our collective living measure in particular against the statement? Are we a kindly living people?
My Lent is a failure. Is that good? I’ve cried feeling overwhelmed by the pain of imagined rejection. I’ve sought help and talked and talked about how to return to ‘normal’ life—life we had before. But there is no answer. My heart literally hurts. Those I love most I cannot help. Fear, anxiety reign. And my personal world seems mirrored in the greater world. There are no solutions. Give up, shut down, hide. Yet surrender, doing nothing brings such guilt! I don’t want to live this way. Where is the peace?
Merton writes: “Yet there is peace. Where is it to be found?”
And I add: What are we to do?
He continues: “[Peace is] in the hearts of men and women who are wise because they are humble—humble enough to be at peace in the midst of anguish, to accept conflict and insecurity and overcome it with love, because they realize who they are, and therefore possess the freedom that is their true heritage. These are the children of God. We all know them…They are everywhere.”
How to see? How to be such? Amen.
While sitting in silence tonight at evening prayers I was overwhelmed by these thoughts. I had read the story in Luke of Jesus’ last week of earthly life—his betrayal, his trial, his crucifixion. I remembered the words: They spit on him, they mocked him, they threw epithets at him, they cried crucify him.
And then I listened to today’s news. They spit on him, they hurled derogatory names at some, they mocked others, they threatened the lives of those who voted in a way they didn’t agree with. Those ‘they’s’ are we. Forgive us O Lord. We have sinned and done what is evil in your sight. Peter, Paul, and Mary sang in my youth:
Merton writes: “Yet there is peace. Where is it to be found?”
And I add: What are we to do?
He continues: “[Peace is] in the hearts of men and women who are wise because they are humble—humble enough to be at peace in the midst of anguish, to accept conflict and insecurity and overcome it with love, because they realize who they are, and therefore possess the freedom that is their true heritage. These are the children of God. We all know them…They are everywhere.”
How to see? How to be such? Amen.
While sitting in silence tonight at evening prayers I was overwhelmed by these thoughts. I had read the story in Luke of Jesus’ last week of earthly life—his betrayal, his trial, his crucifixion. I remembered the words: They spit on him, they mocked him, they threw epithets at him, they cried crucify him.
And then I listened to today’s news. They spit on him, they hurled derogatory names at some, they mocked others, they threatened the lives of those who voted in a way they didn’t agree with. Those ‘they’s’ are we. Forgive us O Lord. We have sinned and done what is evil in your sight. Peter, Paul, and Mary sang in my youth:
When will we understand? When will we quit? When can we see that religious views and political ideologies are not reasons for violent exercise of power? When will we stop mocking those who are different? When will we Christians stop crucifying? How many must die?
Merton finishes: “Peace exists where men who have the power to be enemies are, instead, friends by reason of the sacrifices they have made in order to meet one another on a higher level, where the differences between them are no longer a source of conflict.”
God in Christ offers us such a world. Will we, you and me and all creation, say yes?
Blessings
Caroline
Merton finishes: “Peace exists where men who have the power to be enemies are, instead, friends by reason of the sacrifices they have made in order to meet one another on a higher level, where the differences between them are no longer a source of conflict.”
God in Christ offers us such a world. Will we, you and me and all creation, say yes?
Blessings
Caroline
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