Resonance

“Without hope, our faith gives us only an acquaintance with God. 

Without love and hope, faith only knows Him as a stranger.

For hope casts us into the arms of His mercy and of His providence.

If we hope in Him, we will not only come to know that He is merciful

but we will experience His mercy in our own lives.”

The above quote is by Thomas Merton from the book, No Man Is an Island. After recently reading his autobiography, Seven Storey Mountain, I was inclined to delve further into his writings which I find to be pithy and insightful, challenging me to think more deeply and contemplatively. This may sound a bit strange, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to better know and understand myself. I find that life is a journey of discovery—of learning new things and unlearning what I thought I knew to be true. Within my lifetime of Christian experience where I have read and listened to many and experienced my own faith, it has only been within the last 8 or so years (I am 52) that I have begun to feel comfortable in my own “faith skin”. What I mean by this is that there are many, many voices and strains that can take us down dead end roads. I’ve been down quite a few, and it can be very disorienting. It seems to me that a deeply contemplative life—one where the questions and answers more often than not require time and patience, humility, diligent searching, and perhaps more than anything a quiet and attentive listening— is what leads to a deeper knowing/understanding. And so, I find that my fellow journey men and women are those who, rather than telling me what to believe, point me in directions that help me to contemplate Christ and find truths that resonate with his life and words as well as my own experience. Resonate is the key word, for not all who speak on his behalf have this resonance. I’ll leave it there and let the Merton quote provide food for contemplation.