Thomas
Merton’s classic book, The Seven Storey
Mountain is a helpful commentary on how one can live a spiritual life
despite pressures in the opposite direction. Merton knew how to live in the
world without being swallowed up by the world. He has much to show us about the
balance between solitude from and solidarity with our fellow humans. Perhaps
more than any other writer, he teaches us the meaning of being “in the world”
but “not of the world.” His words have been steeped in solitude and
steeped in the tensions of making a living, finding his place in the world, and
struggles with the sins that so easily entangle every one of us.
Merton’s classic book, The Seven Storey
Mountain is a helpful commentary on how one can live a spiritual life
despite pressures in the opposite direction. Merton knew how to live in the
world without being swallowed up by the world. He has much to show us about the
balance between solitude from and solidarity with our fellow humans. Perhaps
more than any other writer, he teaches us the meaning of being “in the world”
but “not of the world.” His words have been steeped in solitude and
steeped in the tensions of making a living, finding his place in the world, and
struggles with the sins that so easily entangle every one of us.
Gordon
T. Smith quotes Merton in his book, The
Voice of Jesus, and, in one of my recent blog posts,
I looked briefly at one of his comments on suffering. Today, let’s go a little
deeper with Thomas Merton. The following quote is certainly one that will
challenge our understanding of the purpose of suffering and will encourage us
to embrace, rather than reject, the pain we will all experience.
T. Smith quotes Merton in his book, The
Voice of Jesus, and, in one of my recent blog posts,
I looked briefly at one of his comments on suffering. Today, let’s go a little
deeper with Thomas Merton. The following quote is certainly one that will
challenge our understanding of the purpose of suffering and will encourage us
to embrace, rather than reject, the pain we will all experience.
Indeed, the truth that many people never understand,
until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you
suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in
proportion to your fear of being hurt. The one who does most to avoid suffering
is, in the end, the one who suffers the most: and his suffering comes to him
from things so little and so trivial that one can say that it is no longer
objective at all. It is his own existence, his own being, that is at once the
subject and the source of his pain, and his very existence and consciousness is
his greatest torture.
until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you
suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in
proportion to your fear of being hurt. The one who does most to avoid suffering
is, in the end, the one who suffers the most: and his suffering comes to him
from things so little and so trivial that one can say that it is no longer
objective at all. It is his own existence, his own being, that is at once the
subject and the source of his pain, and his very existence and consciousness is
his greatest torture.
– Thomas Merton, The
Seven Storey Mountain, 1948
Seven Storey Mountain, 1948
Do I embrace
suffering or avoid suffering? How large or small are the items which torture
me? Will I make the shift to embrace rather than deflect, avoid, or hate
suffering? “Should
we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” (Job
2:10).
suffering or avoid suffering? How large or small are the items which torture
me? Will I make the shift to embrace rather than deflect, avoid, or hate
suffering? “Should
we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” (Job
2:10).
Today,
I will meditate upon these things. Selah.
I will meditate upon these things. Selah.