Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Grace Pending

Home
Catholic
Thomas Merton: There Must Be A Time

Thomas Merton: There Must Be A Time

Last updated on: November 4, 2015 at 8:10 am by Tom Zampino

Thomas Merton: There Must Be A Time 2015-11-04T08:10:36-05:00 Tom Zampino

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sometimes, we need to take a step back.

Sometimes, we need to look at our lives afresh.

To close our eyes.

To start over.

To begin again.

As if for the first time.

But only this time, perhaps, with breathtaking passion and extravagant gratitude.

We may even try to pretend that everything that came before really didn’t matter, really didn’t make any difference.

But even as we do, we cannot help but lug around the accumulated wisdom wrested from difficult days, or endure the hurts inflicted along the way – sometimes even by our own hands.

So let’s, each of us, take the time to measure out – in solitude – the power and the wisdom contained within this new day.

And let’s, each of us, try to understand just where we’ve been, to grasp just where it is that we might be heading.

But we cannot wait for that to happen, as if by magic.

No.

We must demand it.

We must, in reality, seize it.

Thomas Merton, no stranger to such contemplation, wrote these words in No Man is an Island – words which broke through to me.

Perhaps you’ll find something within them that will move you similarly:

There must be a time of day when the man who makes plans forgets his plans, and acts as if he had no plans at all.

There must be a time of day when the man who has to speak falls very silent.

And his mind forms no more propositions, and he asks himself: Did they have a meaning?

There must be a time when the man of prayer goes to pray as if it were the first time in his life he had ever prayed;

When the man of resolutions puts his resolutions aside as if they had all been broken, and he learns a different wisdom:

Distinguishing the sun from the moon, the stars from the darkness, the sea from the dry land, and the night sky from the shoulder of a hill.

Peace

Image Credit: Pixabay.com

Merton Quote Credit Here.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 1, 2015

Hello, I Must Be Going

Next Post

November 8, 2015 Black Mixed With Shades Of Gray

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Belief Changes Evil Faith Guest Post Jenner Laudato si Lawyers Life Prayer Priesthood Reviews Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What tax collector wrote a Gospel and was called by Jesus?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mark Matthew Barnabas Luke